An Ounce of Hope
by sashayfields
Summary: Set post 7x10. Spencer is rushed to the hospital in hopes that she might be saved. Meanwhile, the liars deal with the shocking revelation of Mary's relationship with Spencer.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 **A/N: Hello to everyone that may be reading this. Before you continue on, I wanted to let you know that this is my first fanfiction that I've written on this site. If any mistakes have been made on my part I apologize as I am still learning the format. With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy what I've written, feel free to leave a review with any suggestions or critique!**

Chapter 1:

"Please. Wait! Where are they taking her?" Alison shouted at the nurse who held the cluster of women back from Spencer, who was rushed away through a set of doors.

"Into surgery, it's the best chance she's got." The nurse said firmly, this answer didn't seem to please Alison one bit. "You can sit in the waiting room, it might be a couple of hours." The woman finished ushering the group to the room, where the doors were shut, and locked, firmly behind them.

"Well that went just swell, just great!" Alison said frustrated, she plopped down into one of the cold, uncomfortable, waiting room chairs.

Emily sat down next to her, "At least she's got a chance, more than we would've if-" Emily trailed off, she was going to say 'if Mary hadn't shown up' but thought better of it. Instead Emily looked to the older woman, who was sitting in a chair across from them, silently inspecting her blood stained clothes, obviously distraught.

Alison understood what Emily meant, but she didn't feel in the mood to throw a pity party for her aunt. She had trusted Mary, despite every warning from everyone she knew. And they had been right, she lied to her, she was there with Jenna, Noel, and AD. She probably would've let them all die if it wouldn't of been Spencer at risk. In fact, was probably planning on offing all the girls that night before Spencer got hurt.

They sat in awkward silence for what seemed like eternity. Each woman had their own thoughts on the matter, unwilling to make any small talk.

"Why don't you just say it?" Mary spoke out bravely, her voice hoarse after not speaking for a while, "Say what you're thinking, I can see that you want to accuse me." She finished, looking away and blinking back her oncoming tears.

"What do you want me to say? You were there with Jenna and Noel, you lied to me about Spencer. Who knows what else you're keeping from me. Why should I trust you?" Alison snapped, finally letting go of all of her pent up emotion.

Emily put her hand in Alison's, she was willing to support her no matter what. However, Alison didn't feel like creating a scene, she didn't feel like letting it go either. She looked at her aunt, whose expression read multiple things. She looked, scared, for whatever reason, the older woman looked terrified. Alison had heard the catch in her voice, and saw the fear in her eyes, although Mary was trying her hardest to avoid the prying eyes of the others.

"You shouldn't trust me, all I've ever done is bring you pain. I deserve everything coming to me." Mary let a sniffle get past, "Even if I did tell you the truth, you wouldn't believe me. It would just cause more trouble than we're already in." she said quietly.

Alison thought about this for a moment, her aunt might have a tragic backstory, but this wasn't the time, or the place. Right now, Alison just wanted to see her friend alive and well again. She corrected herself in her mind, Spencer was her cousin now.

"We? There is no we, you are you, we are us." Aria said, close to livid now. "You being Spencer's mother doesn't change a thing."

"I never expected it to, I don't even expect her to want to see me when she wakes up. I just want her to live, that's all I care about." Mary said finishing, somehow still managing to stand up for herself. Aria grumbled to herself before sitting down, realizing starting a fight was pointless.

"We're all a little on edge right now, when everything is back to normal we can talk about this civilly," Emily said looking to Aria, then to Mary, and back to Alison. Emily's eyes lingered on Alison for a moment, she noticed that she and Mary both had the same look of fear. Fear for their lives, or for Spencer's life, she wasn't sure.

Mary observed that Emily pulled Alison into her arms, holding her softly, almost trying to comfort her. Mary began wondering to herself if there might be a romantic connection between the two women. She would remember this information and ask Alison about it later.

"Em, even after this, there is no going back to normal." Alison said looking to her friends who had still stayed (mostly) silent throughout the whole ordeal. "Despite the new people," she said looking to Mary, "and the injuries," she continued looking to the hospital corridor, "we're going to be stalked all the same for the rest of our lives. I should never of asked you back here, any of you." Alison let a tear slip past, "It's all my fault we're back here doing this again."

Emily rubbed Alison's back, "Nonsense, this is not your fault." She wiped the tears falling from the other girl's face. "If we hadn't come back you'd still be under Archer's care. You wouldn't be here, with us, where you belong." Emily longed to kiss Alison, to make her pain go away, but she knew she couldn't.

"Oh Em!" Alison said, sobbing into Emily's arms. Yes, Mary thought to herself, they are definitely together. Mary hated seeing Alison this way, she didn't want her niece to hurt anymore, but she also knew it was best to let Emily take care of her

"I hate to interrupt," A female doctor said, holding a chart in front of her. "Family of Spencer Hastings?"

Alison looked up from Emily's shoulder, she turned to Mary, who had no idea what to say. The doctor stood impatiently.

Mary finally addressed the doctor, "I'm-" she stopped, not sure how to continue. This was a delicate and new situation, "Spencer's mother." she finished hesitantly.

Alison was now standing next to her aunt, wiping away her tears, "I'm her cousin." She said shortly, wishing they could just get to the point.

The doctor smiled and pulled the two women to the side before continuing, "There's good news, and there's bad news."

Alison and Mary clung to each other, preparing for the worst. Despite Alison still feeling uncomfortable towards her aunt, she didn't have much other choice. "The good news is, she survived the surgery. The bad news is, it might be some time before she heals, if she heals at all."

Once the words finally registered, Mary's knees went weak. Alison managed to catch her just before she crumpled to the ground. The words 'if she heals at all' played over and over in both of the women's minds. Spencer needed to live, it wasn't an option, she had to survive.

"Can, I see my daughter?" Mary managed to choke out quietly. The doctor looked hesitant to this request, and it scared Mary.

"You can, but I don't advise it, she doesn't look good." The doctor warned the pair.

"I-I need to see her." Mary said persistently. She wasn't going to pass this opportunity up. If Spencer wasn't going to survive like the doctor said, she had to see her, at least one last time.

"Go ahead, go to her. I'll let the others know what we know." Alison reassured Mary, who was still a stuttering mess.

"Room 712, first door on the left." The doctor reluctantly divulged the information with a sigh.

Mary nodded to Alison once more, and departed for the room. She forced her feet to move, even though her knees felt like they would buckle at any moment.

She had been told that what she would see wouldn't be good, but her breath hitched at the sight of her daughter. She couldn't force herself to move past the door frame.

Spencer lay in the hospital bed, her motionless body as pale as the sheet she was laying under. The bright, beautiful, young woman Mary saw that day when she knocked on the Hasting's door, now looked as lifeless as Charlotte had.

Of course Spencer wasn't actually lifeless, she was still breathing. Just barely at that, the sound of the countless machines hooked up to her daughter thrummed through Mary's ears. She managed to make her way to Spencer's bedside, and she kneeled down next to her.

She dared herself to touch her daughter's hand, and upon contact she was met with an ice cold touch. She interlaced their fingers and let the tears that had pent up for the last thirty minutes, fall.

She bowed her head down at the bedside, not willing to look at her daughter in this condition any longer. She silently prayed, to what God, she wasn't sure. Her whole life she had wished for a greater force to intervene and help her escape her fate. But no being had ever come to help her. And yet she prayed now, because Spencer hadn't deserved this, she deserved to live.

"I don't know-where to even begin.." she said cautiously at first, even though she knew talking to her daughter was pointless. "Even though you can't hear me, I figure I should start from the beginning."

20 Years Ago in Rosewood Pennsylvania

I pounded my fist against the Hasting's door. It took me five years to get here, to find them, to find my daughter. Spencer, I had been told her name was Spencer. Not what I would've personally chosen, but it still seemed fitting.

Jessica tried her hardest to keep me away, preventing me from finding my little girl. I managed to outsmart her, I hired someone to help me. So when I heard where she was, naturally I decided to come back and confront the man who had taken her from me.

When the door was finally answered, it was Peter Hastings. I would remember him for the rest of my life. He was the reason Spencer was born in the first place. He was the reason I hadn't slept in years. I never wanted to face him again, but I knew I had to if I ever wanted to see my baby.

"How the hell did you find this house?" He said, upon seeing me standing at the door. "Jessica told me you would never find us here."

"Not even a hello for an old friend?" I stopped a moment. "Oh wait, I forgot, you don't respect women, my bad." I said pushing past him to enter into the house.

My first thought, the house was absolutely stunning. Nicer than any house I had ever seen in my life, granted, downtown London wasn't exactly luxury. A staircase led to an upper floor, the kitchen and living room were connected, and many halls extended past that. The house left an imprint in my mind that would forever last, the place my daughter was kept from me.

Veronica Hastings came in from the next room, her jaw dropped upon seeing me. "What the-"

I interrupted her before she could continue.

"I came to see my daughter."

"Sorry but you can't do that, she's my daughter now." Veronica said coldly, turning away from me as if my presence disgusted her.

"Please, I want to see her, you owe me visitation rights." I begged, pleading, anything to see her at least once. I wanted to know my daughter more than anything, she was the only person I'd ever loved.

"We owe you nothing, as far as we knew you were going to be locked up for the rest of your life." Peter roared at me, he moved forward as if to strike me, and I cowered back.

Veronica look annoyed at his gesture, "Peter can I speak to you outside for a moment?"

He looked back at me, growling, "Stay right here, we'll talk about this in a minute."

With that he and Veronica took off to the back porch. I sat there and looked at my surroundings. I finally found her. I couldn't help but cry, I knew they would never let me see her. I didn't like crying in front of people, it made me feel weak.

I looked away from the back door, where I could hear the two shouting, and tried to muffle my sobs. My thoughts were interrupted, when I saw a small girl come skipping down the grand staircase.

I took in a sharp breath, when I saw the little brunette girl with a witty demeanor and a cocky little smile. It couldn't-could it be?

"Hi." The little girl said meekly. I still wasn't sure if it was Spencer, the odds were in my favor though.

"Hi, what's your name?" I said through the tears that wouldn't stop flowing, no matter how hard I tried. If I could just get confirmation it was her-

"Mommy told me not to tell my name to strangers." The girl said, cocking her head to the side, as if to inspect me, challenge me almost.

"Smart girl." I said, this caused her to smile, "Well, my name is Mary Drake, and I'm an old friend of your parents." She seemed to relax a little, "Now I'm not a stranger anymore."

After a minute longer, she hesitantly extended her tiny hand to me, "My name is Spencer Hastings, and I'm five years old."

I felt a twinge of happiness, it was her, it was my daughter. Tears stung my eyes and I shook her hand, she looked to me curiously.

"Mary, why are you sad?" Spencer asked me in an innocent little voice. She sat down next to me on the couch, and looked to me with wide, curious, eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked her, trying to hide my excitement.

"I came down here because I heard you crying, I don't like when people are sad, I want to make them feel better." Spencer explained. It was then I realized how kind my daughter really was, she even cared about me, the random stranger in her house. The look of concern in the girl's eyes convinced me to answer her honestly.

"Well Spencer, I'm sad because my daughter was taken from me." I said wiping my tears, I looked down at her little bunny pajamas and smiled.

"And you're, trying to get her back?" She finished my thought exactly, I was in awe at her mental capacity, even at five years old.

"Yes, exactly. I miss her very much, and I want her to come back to me." I tried to explain as delicately as I could.

"Is she pretty, like you?" Spencer asked, I now realized why she had been staring at me. She thought I was pretty, maybe she even looked up to me.

"She's very pretty, like you." I responded, tapping her on the nose. This caused her to giggle, I did too, even though tears were still in my eyes.

"You think, I'm pretty?" She asked changing from laughing to shocked with a smile. I could tell no one had ever told her that.

"Very pretty, and I think your going to grow up to be very smart too." I said the tears flowing down my cheeks.

She took my hand, noticing my tears. "Whenever my sister and I are sad or hurt, mommy sings us a song to make us feel better." She said. Instantly, I felt pain, she referred to Veronica as her mother, not me. I would never be her mother, that was something I would have to live with.

"Do you want me to sing to you, it might make you feel better?" She asked me, a childish gleam in her eyes that I couldn't say no to.

"I would love that." I replied with a smile, and she took a deep breath.

She began to sing,

"Hush little baby don't say a word,

Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.

If that mockingbird don't sing, Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring."

My tears stopped flowing and a huge smile came to my face. My daughter was so kind, and caring.

"That was lovely, and it made me feel so much better." I said with a convincing smile.

She stood up and hugged me, I wanted to hold onto her tightly and never let her go. But I knew I had to, "I have to go to bed now, I hope you get your daughter back Mary."

"I hope I do to. Thank you Spencer." I replied, tears stinging my eyes when she turned to leave. Just as soon as she was here, she was gone, like, I had never known her.

Veronica and Peter walked back in, "We've decided that you need to go." Veronica said, a little less harsh than before.

"Wha-what do you mean?" I said, stumbling over my words. I knew exactly what she meant, but didn't want to believe it.

"We mean that you don't get visitation rights, and you never come back to this town ever again." Veronica clarified, ushering me towards the door.

"You can't do that to me! I deserve to see her!" I begged, crying openly now.

"Get out of this house before I call Radley, I could get you locked up as quickly as you could blink." Peter screamed.

Anger boiled inside me, "One day I'll come back, and the whole truth will be revealed. I'll tell everyone about you, what you did to me Peter. Just you wait." I said in tears as I stormed out of the house.

"So you see Spencer, that was the first, and last time I talked to you. Well, since that day a couple weeks ago when I came to your door."

Spencer's hand remained still in Mary's, not that she expected anything to happen anyway. But Mary thought it felt good to get the truth out, even if it was to nobody.

"When you opened that door and I saw you for the first time in twenty years, I realized that I was screwed. I had expected for Peter or Veronica to the answer the door, not you."

Mary continued crying to her daughter, "You were so grown up, and still just as beautiful as you were when you were younger."

"And that's why I sang to you, when I cradled you in my arms as you died. Because I was in shock, I was panicked. And yet I remembered that first moment I met you, I remembered you singing to me. I figured maybe that would calm you down in your last moments."

"I'm so sorry." Mary managed to let the words fall from her lips. Her tears now wetting the bed sheet.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I'm sorry for not finding you sooner-" she hesitated for a moment, "I'm sorry for losing you again."

Mary cried for another moment or two before standing up and heading for the door. She stopped before she could reach the door handle, something compelled her to say goodbye before she left. In case this was the last time she would see her daughter.

She moved back to the bed, and kissed Spencer on the forehead, which was just as cold as her hands. She whispered out to her daughter, and into the dense, empty, air.

"I know you're a fighter, please, fight. Come back to your friends, your family, your parents, to me if you want to." She said stopping for a moment.

"I don't care if you never want to see me again, if you hate me, I just- I need you to live!" She said yelling at her unconscious daughter now. Not out of hatred, or frustration, out of love. "I want to see your beautiful smiling face again, I want to hear your laugh that instantly makes me happy."

Mary looked back down at Spencer, who hadn't moved, and still remained pale. Not that Mary was expecting a miracle, but she had an ounce of hope left. "I love you, Spencer."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **A/N: Thank you all for the reviews/favorites/follows you left on the last chapter! I never expected to get this much support so early on in my writing. I wanted to let you know that I don't have an updating schedule yet. I'll probably just update this fic when I have time. This chapter has some brief swearing in it (which is why it's rated T) and it's mostly about Alison and Mary's relationship. With that aside, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

The girls were all standing in the waiting room when Alison broke the news to them. They all had different reactions, and it went somewhat like Alison imagined it would.

"So is she going to die or not?" Hanna questioned, being completely serious of course. That kind of remark always managed to come out of Hanna, even in the darkest moments. It was because the girl had no filter, and she really couldn't help it.

The girls all looked at her for a moment, in shock. "What?" She questioned, not seeing anything wrong with what she had said. With a huff, she sat back down into one of the waiting room chairs, muttering something to herself.

"What can we do to help her now?" Aria asked, sighing, and ignoring the looks Emily had shot her for the past 20 minutes. The small girl's once strong voice now back to its smaller scale. She always had a soft spot in her heart for Spencer, more than she did for the other girls.

"Not much, besides hope for the best. Spencer's going to need a miracle to save her now." Alison said, sounding much more depressed than she had intended to originally. To be honest, Alison wasn't really sure what to do now. Time would tell Spencer's condition, but Alison knew if the group was cooped up here any longer, tensions would rise too high.

"Where's Mary?" Was Emily's first question. For some reason, even though she had always suspected Mary, Emily liked the older woman. Whether it was because she realized her innocence, or because she knew how much Mary meant to Alison, no one would ever know.

Before Alison could answer Emily's question, Mary had come back out of the room bearing red, puffy eyes. No one brought this up of course, all were able to assume she was crying. It jerked Alison to see her aunt really and truly distraught. Of course she had seen her in an emotional state many times before, but never like this.

"How is she?" Alison inquired cautiously, as Mary met them outside the room. She noticed the older woman's still bloody clothes, and realized they had now been at the hospital for a good five hours.

"The doctor wasn't lying when she said it would be bad." Is all Mary said, and left it at that. No one said anything for a while after that, although the girls all felt a slight premonition. They had been in such situations before, but never as serious as this.

"If you can't handle it, you shouldn't have gone in to see her." Aria said bitterly, still mad that Mary was trying to play the victim. "We've all been through a lot, you don't get a free pass."

"I know you're upset about Ezra, but there's no reason to take it out on Mary." Alison snapped, causing even Mary to look up. She hadn't expected her niece to defend her, but she appreciated it.

Aria was acting completely out of line, none of the girls could deny that. She had just found out Ezra lied to her about finding his ex, so she was a little high-strung. That was before this whole ordeal even started, so emotionally, Aria was not in a good place.

"Why not? She's insane! All of this is her fault anyway." Aria shot back, seemingly forgetting that Mary was still standing right across from her, or just not caring.

Mary let out a quiet sob, got up, and walked out the corridor. She didn't like to show people that weak side of her, the side that couldn't handle emotions. Especially not people who already see her in a bad light. So she ran instead of facing her problems, hoping this whole thing would blow over soon. She wanted nothing more than to see Spencer again, her daughter's friends, not so much.

The girls all looked at each other as the older woman ran off. As if asking who would dare to run after her, to make sure she didn't do anything drastic. They owed it to Spencer to keep her birth mother safe, at least long enough to get the answers they deserved.

"I'll go after her." Alison offered finally, getting up slowly, to not shake her unborn child around. However no one noticed this besides Emily, who helped her.

Aria put out a hand to stop Alison from moving towards the hall, where Mary had fled to. "Let her go cry, she's the reason we're in this situation in the first place." Alison thought this was particularly harsh, even for Aria. She vowed that after all of this was over she would find time to murder Ezra for the whole Nicole situation.

"Yeah, we don't owe her anything." Hanna added in agreement, and stood up next to Aria, blocking Alison's way. Alison loved Hanna like a sister, but she wished that the girl would grow a spine and voice her own opinions instead of Aria's.

Emily stood in stunned silence next to Alison, it was two versus two. To go after Mary? Or to ignore her? No one moved an inch, she feared this might happen. Whenever the girls became involved in high stress situations, rifts were always divided between them. Spencer had been the glue that kept them together, and now, her mother was the one prying them apart.

"I can't believe we're even having this discussion!" Alison began, "Mary is a human being, and you talked about her like she was nothing, when she was standing right there!"

"We're standing here, arguing, about Mary, when in reality, we should be thanking her." Emily pointed out before Alison could. Aria bore an expression that made a clear statement, she wouldn't be thanking the older woman any time soon.

Aria immediately went off on Emily, "She's freaking evil Emily! If you really care about Alison so much, you should know that Mary is not a good person to have in her life!"

"She helped Archer, in zombie makeup!" Hanna added in with a sigh, causing Alison to remember back to those weeks ago. She remembered how afraid she was, seeing her dead mother alive again. She never wanted to see her mother's face again after that day, then Mary came along and she realized she would be staring at it for the rest of her life.

Emily was growing impatient with both of her friends now, completely disregarding Hanna's comment, "Don't you dare question my loyalty to Ali!"

Aria scoffed, "That's why you're defending Mary isn't it? Because of Ali? Not because she's a good person."

Through this whole ordeal, Emily had been the calm and sensible one. Now however, she had well and truly lost all sense of that calm nature, "I'm defending Mary because she's family! And she's done nothing but help us, evil or not!"

During all of this commotion, Alison felt morning sickness coming on. She hurriedly ran to the bathroom, still trying to hide her pregnancy from the others.

Alison threw open the bathroom door, and ran past a person crying at the sink. _Seems_ _like_ _everyone_ _has_ _a reason_ _to_ _cry_ _today_ , she thought to herself as she began to be sick. She couldn't help but wonder if she was safe, even in a bathroom. The situation had gotten so bad that she really didn't trust her safety anywhere.

"I wish Emily would've told me morning sickness doesn't suddenly stop when my world comes crashing down." Alison muttered to herself, falling from her knees and finally letting out her grief. "My life is such a joke I'm talking to myself in a hospital bathroom."

"Alison?" She heard a voice sniffle out, a voice that she would recognize anywhere. It was deep, and mysterious, the voice of her aunt Mary. She felt even more sick than she had before, her hidden pregnancy was now out in the open.

"Oh shit." Alison swore under her breath, realization dawned on her that Mary had been the woman at the sink. She had most likely been attempting to wash the blood out of her clothes, either that or trying to calm herself down. Alison felt she should have done something, she should have found Mary sooner. This all could've been avoided if she had been more careful.

Defeated, Alison walked out of the stall, over to the sink where Mary was still crying to herself. The older woman opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Alison slumped down to the bathroom floor, followed by Mary. Alison began to cry as well, and put her head in her hands. She started off the conversation by answering the question that went without saying, "Yes, I'm pregnant." Alison confirmed. "This isn't how I imagined telling you, not that I ever imagined telling you at all." She finished with a sniffle, followed by a sigh. It had never dawned on Alison that she would eventually have to come clean to her aunt about her pregnancy.

Mary nodded, still not able to form a sentence. If she could, she still wouldn't know where to begin. This was her fault, she worked with Archer, if she hadn't been there in the first place none of this would be happening.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Alison continued, "I was actually going to run after you, but all hell broke loose in the waiting room. So I ran in here, and now here we are."

Alison noticed Mary's mind still wandering, tears still flowing, she seemed in no mood for small talk. "I get it, if you don't want to talk. I'm not exactly thrilled about this situation either." She wished things didn't have to be so complicated with her aunt, she wished that for once she could have a normal family.

Mary finally managed a sentence, "I just don't understand. I'm the one who messed up everything, and yet, it's not me that's paying for my mistakes, it's the people I care about the most."

Alison turned towards her sobbing aunt, "What do you-you mean, you care about me?"

Mary wiped her tears, which had now soaked the bathroom floor. "Of course I care about you." she said turning to her niece, "And it's my fault you're suffering now, because I worked with Archer."

Alison couldn't deny this, so she didn't. Instead, she took her aunt's hand, halfheartedly at that. This whole situation was awkward, but Mary was trying.

"I'm sorry, for everything I've done. I don't expect you to forgive me, I wouldn't forgive me, but I just wanted you to know that I am sorry."

Instead of saying anything back to her aunt, Alison gave a small smile, "The baby's kicking." she put her hand on her stomach and felt the little pound of the small foot. Despite the circumstances it was conceived under, Alison was happy she would soon be a mother.

Mary turned to her, remembering how happy she felt when she was pregnant with her children. The nervous aching of longing to hold your child, the feeling she never got to experience. "Can I?"

The young woman nodded, and Mary lightly laid her hand on Alison's stomach. She couldn't help but smile at the feeling of new life, a small ray of happiness in all of this mess. It only reminded her more of Spencer, who was still laying comatose a few rooms over.

"You can go, if you want, you probably want to get back to your friends." Mary said feeling glum again. Alison hadn't accepted her apology, and she didn't blame her for it. She just wanted Alison to finally be happy, even if it wasn't with her.

"I'd rather stay in here with you. You may be the subject of all this drama, but at least you don't start it." Alison said, still not completely forgiving of her aunt, but not wanting to leave either. "I'd appreciate if you kept this secret between us." she added in, "I haven't exactly told the other girls yet."

Mary nodded. Suddenly, she remembered back to earlier and the question she wanted to ask. "But you've told Emily?"

"She was there when I took the test, she means a lot to me." Alison said thinking about the woman. What would she have done if Emily hadn't been there to support her that day?

Mary raised her eyebrows at this, and Alison grew nervous. "Are you two-?"

Alison stopped the sentence as soon as it started, "It's-uh-" she began stuttering at the indication of Emily. They hadn't ever talked about feelings, it was uncharted territory. Sure, Alison felt something for Emily, but was she willing to admit it to Mary before she admitted it to herself?

"We're not-we're not together." Alison decided finally. "It's complicated, she has a girlfriend, and this other really annoying ex she's trying to get rid of."

Mary nodded in understanding, "Were you two ever dating? I mean-you aren't the annoying ex?"

Alison began to laugh, eventually she broke into full on hysterics. Mary sat there confused, and when Alison finally calmed down she spoke, "I am, much less annoying than Paige Mccullers."

Mary snorted at this, "Her name is Paige Mccullers? She even sounds horrid."

"And she hates me too, even though Emily and I were never officially dating, she was still jealous." Alison felt disgusted even talking about the other girl. She wanted to erase every memory of Paige from her mind. Why she was trying to come back into Emily's life now, Alison wasn't sure.

"Well, if she ever gives you any problems, let me know. I've been told that I'm quite intimidating." Mary offered. The thought of Mary scaring the shit out of Paige made her laugh even harder than before.

This caused Mary to chuckle lightly as well. When Alison finally stopped laughing, "Okay then, any name ideas?- for the baby I mean."

Alison thought about this for a moment, this seemed like a personal detail to tell her aunt. "Well I'm not sure about the gender yet, but I was thinking if it's a boy, Wayne."

Mary paused, "Why Wayne?"

Alison smiled, thinking of the fallen Fields man. "He's the most kind and courageous man I've ever known, Emily's father. He died in the war, but he was always there to love and support all of us girls. He was like the father Kenneth never was for me." The meaning of the words hit Mary, she realized Alison had never been supported by her family.

"And you're sure you two aren't a thing?" Mary asked innocently.

Alison hit her arm, "Aunt Mary!" she said scoffing.

"All jokes aside, that's a very nice tribute to him. He sounds like a wonderful man and I wish I would've met him, What about a girl's name?" Mary said, still smiling.

"I was thinking, Jessica. My mom, she meant a lot to me and I feel like it would be a respectful nod to her." Alison explained, and Mary's smile faded into a slight frown.

"I think that's a wonderful name." Mary said finally, trying to hide the pit of despair forming in her stomach. Despite her standing on Jessica, Mary knew she had no right to prevent Alison from naming her child after the woman.

Despite the fake smile Mary had plastered on, Alison could see that it was a complete facade. Something about Jessica still bothered Mary, and she intended to find out what.

"You don't have to pretend to like my mother, you know that right?" Alison said, she understood the way Mary felt, her mother wasn't always the kindest person. "That fake smile might fool everyone else, but it sure isn't fooling me."

"I just- if anything I want you to keep a good memory of Jessica." Mary said, she blinked more tears back. Alison deserved to have at least her mother left for her. After all Mary had done, the least she could do was keep her secret, and protect Alison.

"In all honesty, I don't have any good memories of my mother." Alison immediately regretted the words as soon as she spoke them. "Even though I know she couldn't stand me, I just, I still miss her. "

Mary nodded, she completely understood. "Sometimes, we miss the people who hurt us the most. It's human nature."

Alison wondered if this was why she had missed her aunt's presence in those couple of days she had stopped responding to her phone calls. Even though Mary had hurt her, she still wanted to know that she was safe. Maybe it had been because she had no one else, or just that the older woman intrigued her.

"Thank you, for being so understanding, about everything." Alison said, she decided to drop the topic of Jessica for now. Although, she would definitely question her aunt about it later. Alison sighed, laying her head on Mary's shoulder she closed her eyes.

"Just one thing, are you sure you don't feel anything for Emily?" Mary said, still hopeful that the girl might admit feelings exist.

Alison opened her eyes, back to the questions. She couldn't help but laugh at her aunt's persistence, "You're never going to drop this, are you?"

"Never." Mary replied, grinning to her niece again, she hoped her persistence would pay off.

"Well, if I'm being honest-"

Just then, the bathroom door burst open. A frantic Emily came running in. Out of breath, she scanned the room before finding the two sitting on the ground.

"Alison? Mary?" She questioned. Alison lifted her head off her aunt's shoulder quickly and ran into Emily's arms.

"Hey, hey, are you alright?" Emily said, stroking her hair and wiping a stray tear. She placed her hand on Alison's stomach, and felt the small child growing inside of her friend. Alison looked over to Mary who just raised her eyebrows as if to say, ' _No_ _feelings?_ _Really?_ '

"I had a spell of morning sickness, and I found Mary in here as I was throwing up my cafeteria breakfast." Alison said a little sarcastically.

"So she-?" Emily began, unsure on the standing of the older woman.

"Yes, I know." Mary confirmed, she saw fear in Emily's eyes. "I'm keeping it a secret like Alison asked me to. You don't have to worry about me." Mary confirmed, standing up from the bathroom floor. This caused Emily to sigh in relief. The secret would remain a secret, at least for now. Obviously when Alison got bigger they would have to tell the girls.

"I knew I could trust you." Emily said, offering a smile to the older woman for the first time. "However, Hanna and Aria still don't feel the same." Mary knew this would happen, she didn't blame the two girls either. Their hatred towards her just showed that they cared about Alison. It still puzzled her that Emily felt differently.

"Wait, Em, why did you come looking for us in the first place?" Alison said, genuinely confused. She looked between Mary and Emily, then back to the door.

"It's Toby." Emily began, but Alison interrupted her.

"Toby?" Alison began, a hint of confusion. "Did he leave his wife and their little road trip to come back to Spencer?"

Mary stood, confused about the situation. She had only ever known Toby as 'Officer Cavanaugh'. She knew nothing about his personal life, just that he was Spencer's ex-boyfriend. If he really meant this much to her daughter, he was just as much her family as any of the others.

Emily broke through her puzzlement, "No, they got in a car accident."

Alison felt a lump forming in her throat, did Emily mean what she thought she meant?

"Toby's in a coma."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **A/N** : **Hello again! I'm sorry I haven't updated this in ages, I've been super sick with the flu. I made this chapter a little longer than the last two for you guys because of the long wait. Also, I didn't proofread this as thoroughly as usual because I was in a hurry to publish it for my good friend Shivali, so forgive me if there's more errors than usual. Without further ado, read ahead, and enjoy the chapter!**

Emily guided Alison and Mary back into the lobby where the other two were waiting. She left them there, and went back up to the front desk to gather as much information as possible.

Mary stood awkwardly with the group, she hadn't known Toby, she had no right to even be involved in this. Yet, she was there, and none of them were objecting to it. The girls' hatred for her was masked by their fear for Toby.

"How did you guys even find out he was here?" Alison asked Aria and Hanna as Emily was having a heated conversation with a nurse. They could hear the details of the argument just faintly.

"Emily was the next person on Toby's call list. After Yvonne, and Spencer of course." Aria explained, "Yvonne, she's- gone."

None of the other girls said anything, they hadn't known Yvonne well, but they all knew she didn't deserve her fate. She was innocent, and Toby was right to try and get her away from this town. They all contemplated the death of the woman as Emily came walking back to the group.

"They won't let us in to see him, none of us are family." Emily said, she was obviously aggravated that she couldn't help one of her closest friends. If she was on the call list, shouldn't she be considered family?

"Is there family of his that could get us into see him?" Mary suggested, looking back to the nurse who was keeping a sharp eye on them. She didn't trust doctors and nurses as far as she could throw them, but had to remind herself this wasn't Radley or Welby.

"Toby doesn't have any family, he never has. His mother, Marion, was murdered in Radley, father left them both long before that." Emily briefly described Toby's past to Mary. She grew confused as a slight look of familiarity dawned on Mary.

Mary remembered Marion, a woman she had considered her friend way back when. She had loved Marion as a sister, the closest bond Mary had with anyone. Then she was murdered, and Mary still never forgave herself for letting Marion go to the roof that night. If only she had stopped her than she wouldn't have been killed by-

"Aunt Mary?" Alison asked, looking to her aunt in concern. She saw that she had brought a distracted Mary back out of her thoughts.

Before Mary could reply, dozens of nurses bustled into one of the rooms. They all hoped it wasn't Toby's, but they couldn't be sure.

"Oh, this can't be good." Alison muttered running amidst the crowd to try and see what was going on.

Aria, who was more direct, managed to grab one of the nurses and pull them aside, "What's going on?"

"Miss, I really need to get back to my job-" The woman said, offering Aria that vague reply before rushing off after the others. Aria sighed and turned to the other women, they all stood nervously, and completely in the dark considering they knew absolutely nothing.

When the commotion died down, the girls sat back down. Mary couldn't help but speak her thoughts, "Who do you think did this? I mean, we can't be expected to believe this was an accident."

"How do we know it wasn't you. You seem suddenly interested in Toby's condition." Aria questioned, for once, Alison agreed with her friend. The point was a valid one, but, Mary was quick to come up with an excuse.

"How would I manage to get Toby in a car accident while saving all of you at the same time?" Mary said, making another extremely valid point. It just didn't make sense why this would've happened, and who could've done it.

"Could it have been AD?" Emily asked, looking to Alison who still seemed perturbed by the whole ordeal. Emily swiftly reached out her hand to Alison, and the other woman quickly returned the gesture.

"You mean Noel, and Jenna." Hanna suggested, trying to clarify what 'AD' meant. At this point, it was anybody's guess who this was. The girls had no leads, no evidence, no nothing. Unless Spencer or Toby saw something, things were hopeless.

"Hanna, we decapitated Noel." Emily pointed out to her friend. "That's even less plausible than Mary causing it." Mary raised her eyebrows at Hanna as if to say, 'I told you so' and the girl couldn't help but laugh. Something about the gesture made Mary seem less intimidating.

Aria seemed to notice the other girl falling for Mary's spell, she didn't like it one bit. Throughout the course of the last 10 hours, Mary had managed to win them all over.

All of a sudden, Hanna became unnerved remembering the sight of the decapitated body in the abandoned school. She'd seen some gruesome things before, but never anything like that. In fact, she had just run over a man a week ago, so why did that disturb her so much?

"How close were Marion and Toby?" Mary said, breaking the silence finally. Emily looked to the older woman curiously. She seemed suddenly interested in Marion and Toby's past.

"I hope I didn't upset you, mentioning Radley I mean." She said, trying not to reopen old wounds. "But to answer your question, he didn't have much memory of her before she was taken away."

"No, it's fine." Mary reassured the young girl, but Alison noticed a tear running down her aunt's cheek, which she quickly brushed away. Before any of the girls could bring this up, they all turned as they saw a familiar face.

"Toby?" They all said at once. According to the nurses, he was supposed to be in a coma. But there he was standing in front of them, full of breath as ever.

"Anyone want to tell me why you're here, instead of at Spencer's house under police surveillance?" He did a double take, obviously just noticing Mary, "And why is she covered in blood?"

"Toby, I think you should lie down first. Go back to your room and we'll be there in a second." Emily instructed him, much like the big sister he never had.

With a sigh, he reluctantly obliged and stumbled back to his hospital bed. He couldn't help but wonder if he had made a mistake about all of this. He remembered now that Spencer wasn't standing with the others. Maybe she had just been in the bathroom, or on a coffee run, but then why was Mary Drake covered in blood? Why were they there in the first place?

"I can't do this, I can't do it." Emily said, she began pacing. "How am I supposed to tell him that his wife is dead, Spencer is dying right now because of Jenna and that you're her mother?" She said referring to Mary, she slumped down into a chair and Alison spoke up.

"We'll all help you Em. It's as much our story to tell as yours." Alison said, she was the vote of confidence in this mess.

"He's not going to be happy, but at least it'll be out." Aria said, standing up and offering Emily her hand. Emily took it and Hanna joined them, that left Mary.

"I guess I'll tell him my part." She said reluctantly, standing up to join the others. Before she was able to walk with them however-

 _buzz buzz_

The girls all froze in place. It was just one of their phones however, not all of them. How much worse could this get? Spencer had just gotten shot, what more could AD want from them?

All four of them looked down at their phones, and upon seeing no message on their screens they all turned to Mary.

 _If you tell Toby the truth about Marion's death, your daughter dies_

 _\- A_

Mary tucked her phone quickly back into her pocket, "Just an email." She reassured the four, but Alison wasn't buying it. She had seen the split second look of fear on her aunt's face, and knew something was up.

"I was starting to worry you wouldn't show up." Toby said when the group came filing into his room finally. He had worried himself sick waiting.

"We just- had to talk some things over." Emily said looking to Alison for any hint of support. The girl smiled back, and lightly nodded.

"It's Spencer, isn't it." Toby began, he was preparing himself for the worst. "That's why all of you are here."

Emily nodded, "She's still alive, about a dozen rooms down from yours." She paused looking down silently.

Alison stepped up next to her, "She's not doing well. Her chances of survival are slim."

Toby moved to stand up, "I have to see her." However, Emily blocked his path to the door. Toby was not getting out of this room while she was still breathing. "Emily, let me go see her." He protested.

"Toby-" Emily began, how would she begin to explain that it wasn't a good idea. She couldn't keep him from seeing her, but she knew it wouldn't help him.

It was Mary who spoke, "Toby, you don't want to see her in the condition she's in, I made that mistake. Just listen to Emily, she's trying to help you."

Toby turned to Mary, a look of confusion plastered on his face. "You saw Spencer? I thought it was family only.." Mary closed her eyes and looked away for a moment. She knew it would have to be explained eventually.

Alison gave her aunt a slight nod, and Mary sat down on the bed next to Toby. The girls moved closer, eager to hear the unfolding story. "I had gotten an A text, it had told me to come to the address listed or someone I cared about would die."

She wiped the tears forming in her eyes, "When I got there, someone knocked me out. When I regained consciousness, I was locked in a closet, but I heard the girl's voices." She turned to them, "I tried to scream out, to tell you to turn back, but it was no use."

"When I started hearing gunshots and screams I mustered enough strength to kick down the door. That's when I saw a decapitated body, and I could hear heavy breathing. I followed my ears, and saw the blind girl, with a gun." Mary's voice wavered, "I saw her pointing it at one of the girls, they were already badly injured and trapped in the corner. So I knocked the girl out, that's when I saw Spencer, laying helplessly, bleeding out from her chest."

Toby looked at the others as Mary continued to recount her tearful story, "I tried to save her Toby. I really did try. I wish I could've done more. I just.. I didn't want to lose her again." Mary put her head in her hands and continued sobbing quietly.

"Mary.. I.." Toby didn't know what to say, he didn't have the words. He could only imagine what the woman must be feeling. He was feeling the same, he didn't want to lose Spencer again.

"I'm her mother, Toby. Her biological mother." The words felt good to finally get off her chest. She looked at the man, his eyes widened. "It was all a game, set up by whoever this monster is. They were testing me, testing me on if I could save my daughter in time."

She looked to the girls now, "And I failed her, I failed all of you."

Everyone turned to the door of the hospital room as a slow menacing clap resounded through the room. To Mary's disdain, it was Veronica Hastings. Mary quickly stood up, wiping her tears.

"What a beautiful story." Veronica finished clapping, she eyed Mary thoughtfully. "We had a deal Mary, and you broke it by stepping foot in this town." She said, getting straight to the point.

"We had no deal. You had to know I would come back eventually, when Radley finally came to its senses." Mary snapped back, but she couldn't hide the quiver in her voice. The girls all watched curiously, if a fight was about to unfold, they might get some answers.

"Jessica told us you were never getting out of Radley, that you would rot in there." Veronica said, still advancing on Mary. Emily moved out of the way of the women, hoping that she wouldn't have to seperate them if it came to that.

"Well look where that got Jessica." Mary began, a bitterness to her voice, "Murdered, and buried in your backyard."

Alison flinched at the mention of her mother's murder, Mary was ripping off the bandaid and reopening the wound. Alison figured Mary had no idea what she was doing, she was grasping at anything she could to defend herself against the woman.

"Karma's a bitch, Mary." Veronica said slyly.

"I've already payed my dues." Mary said, suddenly finding her courage. "I spent half my life in Radley for a murder my sister committed, it seems like her lies finally caught up to her."

"Is that a confession?" Veronica asked innocently, "I believe the police have been looking for any witnesses in the unsolved murder case. And one of Rosewood's finest is right here.."

"I am no longer a member of the Rosewood PD, and no murder confession has been made. So Veronica, either make your point or move on." Toby said, not so much defending Mary as trying to get rid of Veronica.

That was all it took for Alison, she stormed out of the hospital room and made a beeline for the waiting room. The discussion of her mother's murder was not one she intended on having now. Spencer was already dying, and she didn't need any reminder of the people she had already lost.

Emily looked back at the two women, "You see what you've done?" She pointed out before rushing after Alison.

She found her friend sitting in the waiting room, crying softly. Alison had done well at keeping her emotions at bay, but finally released them. Emily sat down next to her, and pulled her into her arms. "It's going to be okay, Ali."

"Why is my life like this?" Alison questioned tearfully. "I mean, what if I had a normal life, a normal family, normal friends?" Alison nuzzled her head into Emily's chest, allowing herself to be comforted by the girl. When she was in Emily's arms, the world felt right.

Emily rubbed Alison's back soothingly. She was never any good at calming people down, but did what she thought was right. "You're saying we're not normal enough for you?" She said jokingly, causing Alison to crack a smile.

"Just, what if things were different? What if A.D. didn't exist? What if my mother wasn't dead? What if we-" Alison paused. "That's not all that's bothering me."

Emily looked concerned, "What else is bothering you?"

"I think Mary might've killed my mom." Alison sniffled, "I just, keep hearing the hatred in her voice. Couldn't that much anger be enough to drive a person to murder?"

Emily thought about this for a moment, running a hand through her hair, "It could be. But I think you're going to have to ask Mary about it yourself."

Alison nodded, she was willing to do this, but still hesitant. "And if she admits to doing it?"

Emily sighed, "What you do after that is entirely up to you, Alison." She held her friend even tighter than before, "You okay now?"

Alison hinted a small smile, Emily was so logical and great at talking through problems. Whenever she felt like the world was impossible, Emily was there to make it understandable. She was realizing all of these things about Emily now, how much she needed Emily to survive, how she had changed into a better person for Emily. She had to tell her, now, before she became too afraid.

"I don't know much Em." Alison began, she turned out of Emily's arms in order to face her. "But I've realized in these past, ten hours, I think that's what we're at now, that I do know one thing."

Alison was interrupted however, by the fight the two left in Toby's room.

The two women came shouting out into the waiting room, "Get out of this hospital, before I get security to make you!" Veronica shouted at Mary, who was still upset about the whole ordeal.

"I saved her life, I have just as much right to see her as you do!" Mary yelled back.

"Silence!" Alison shouted. Her booming voice caused the two women to stop and look to her.

"I've been waiting for this moment for 7 years, and you two are not going to ruin it." Alison muttered aloud, she turned to Emily who was blushing.

Emily sparked a look of curiosity as Alison took her hand, "Emily Fields, I've loved you since the day I met you. I always thought, I wish that beautiful swimmer was my girlfriend, but then I would go home and be constantly reminded that what I was feeling was wrong. Those kisses weren't ever for practice, they were me trying to tell myself that the way I was feeling wasn't normal. But I eventually realized, once my family was long gone, that it was normal. That they were trying to hold me back from this. I am bisexual Emily, and this is me officially coming out of the closet I've been trapped in for years." She took a deep breath, relieved to have finally gotten that off her chest. "I love you Emily."

Emily was amazed at this confession, she knew how hard it was for Alison to really open up about things. "I love you too Alison."

Neither said a word, what does a person say after I love you's are exchanged? They looked at each other for a moment, finally realizing that this was meant to happen.

While Veronica and Mary were distracted with Emily and Alison's newfound romance, Aria and Hanna were able to sneak Toby out of his room. How the nurses didn't notice them, they weren't sure. But they were as incompetent as the police force was.

"This is Spencer's room alright." Aria said, as soon as they had arrived. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Toby had managed to convince the two that he needed to see his friend, for his own piece of mind. While neither of them believed it, it was a good enough excuse to break some rules.

Toby hesitated for a moment, but then became more sure of himself, "I need to see her." He looked just past the door, and back to the two girls again.

"Alright Romeo, we'll cover for you." Hanna assured him, just before he slipped into the room.

"Romeo? Nice nickname Han!" Aria said, offering her friend a small high five. "Those two are going to end up together if it's the last thing I do."

Hanna laughed, "Alright then, you work on Spencer and Toby, I'll work on Emily and Ali."

Toby walked into the room anxiously, but slowed as he saw Spencer laying there. She still looked beautiful, even while dying. He realized in that moment how much he had missed her, how much he regretted packing up his pickup and leaving with Yvonne.

He sat down next to her bed, and look at her pale face once more. "Oh Spence, I was gone for twenty minutes and you managed to get yourself shot." He thought about this for a moment, "Then again, I got myself in a car accident."

Toby thought back to all of the mistakes he made. His first one was building that house, building it for Spencer and hoping, like an idiot, that she might come back to him. His second was marrying Yvonne, while still wanting Spencer to be the one. He had caused Yvonne so much pain, and it was all for nothing. She was dead now because of him, and Spencer might be too.

"You always were difficult though, even if I had stayed you probably would've found a way to trick me too. That Hastings spunk, it fit you, even if you were never actually a Hastings." Toby chuckled to himself, "To think, Mary Drake? Out of all the people in Rosewood, you got stuck with Mary Drake."

Toby took Spencer's hand, it actually felt warmer than his, considering they had relatively the same thing. Why Toby had woken up before she had, even the doctors couldn't explain.

"I'd give anything, anything, to trade places with you. To have you sitting up, alive, instead of me." He kissed her hand, "But I promise you, I won't leave you again. I'm in Rosewood, and I'm staying."

He wiped a tear that was falling down his cheek, a single one, one that should've never slipped out. "So just please, survive."

Emily pulled Alison into her lips, and the world seemed to freeze for a moment. All Alison could hear was the beating of her heart and Emily's, in sync. The two girls were lost in their own world, and had entirely forgotten about Veronica and Mary watching the whole thing. Not that Alison cared of course, just two more people she didn't have to come out to.

When they finally separated, Alison looked over to survey their audience. Mary was standing, lightly wiping some tears that had fallen. She walked over to her niece.

"Alison, I'm so proud of you." She offered her niece a hug, and Alison accepted gratefully. Mary was beyond happy for her, she wanted nothing more than for Alison to finally be true to herself, and she was. Alison was happy because she finally had a family member who, evil or not, didn't hate her for being who she was.

Mary walked over to Emily, who was trying, but failing, to get a conversation out of Veronica. She pulled the girl aside, but saw her weary expression. "Don't worry. I just wanted to tell you how happy I am for you two." She leaned in a little closer, "But, if you hurt her, don't think I won't find you."

Emily nodded, "I have no intention of hurting Alison, don't worry Ms. Drake." Emily responded, looking over to Alison who was trying to get some sort of response out of Veronica.

Mary smiled, "Please, call me Mary. No need for formalities." Emily shivered, but nodded and shook her hand.

"Not even a congratulations? Really?" Alison said, a little louder than before. "I thought you were more classy than that." She was trying, but Veronica couldn't even look her straight in the face. She was homophobic, it appeared that way at least.

Veronica opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it. Instead she walked over to the security guard, "I'm going to need you to escort that woman out please." She said ushering to Mary.

"Woah, hey you can't do that." Alison said, moving from Emily's arms to stand in front of Mary. "She's not endangering anyone by being here."

"She's an ex Radley patient, and a convicted child murderer." Veronica started turning towards Mary, "Would you like me to continue?"

Mary started to walk toward the door, "No need for force, I'll go willingly." Alison held out her arm, stopping Mary from walking any further.

"You know damn well she was framed for that murder, and she's out of Radley for a reason! That doesn't mean you can force her out!" Alison was full on screaming now.

Mary turned to her niece, "Look, it's better if I just go. You won't be able to get anything done if I'm here anyway."

"What if she wakes up? Or something else happens?" Alison protested.

Mary put her hand on Alison's shoulder, "Then you'll call me." Mary's voice sank down to a whisper, "Just enjoy your time with Emily, especially in front of Veronica." Alison couldn't help but laugh at that.

Alison reluctantly nodded as Mary walked out the hospital doors. It killed the older woman to walk away, but she didn't have much other choice. Spencer would be alright, Alison would be alright, with Emily taking care of her. She would be alright, eventually, she would be alright.

Of course, she was just telling herself that. She had no knowledge of what would actually happen next, and how so very wrong she was.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **A/N : Hey guys, I'm back at it again. I just wanted to clear something up before you start reading this chapter. I assume if you've clicked on this, you've read or at least seen the description. It perfectly explains that it is about Mary and Spencer. So to those of you commenting that I should have less Mary and more of the ships, go ahead and reread the description again. If you have a problem with what I write, don't read my stories. Anyway, for those of you sticking around... ENJOY! **

Alison's eyes peeked open a little at first, then all at once, and a dull scheme of color and bright light met her. When she sat up and looked around, she realized she had been asleep in Emily's arms. Unfortunately not in a bed, in a hospital waiting room chair, but she'd take what she could get.

She looked across from her and saw Hanna still sound asleep, snoring away, and a nurse still watching them with displeasure. She also saw Aria, furiously texting someone she assumed to be Ezra. Then she looked next to her and saw her mermaid, fast asleep, with a smile on her face. All was right with the world when she saw that bright and beautiful smile.

She stood up and walked over to Aria, "How's the Nicole situation?"

"Not great. Ezra's trying to deny a lot of things, that I wish he would just admit to." Aria said with a sigh, "Like kissing Nicole on national television. I get why he did it, it was overwhelming, a thrill in the moment, but the fact that he's denying it?"

Alison sat back in the chair, thinking for a moment, "If I were you, I would just put my phone down and give him the silent treatment. The fact that he's not here, giving you support during all of this, means you shouldn't waste your breath. Let him go run off and be happy with Nicole if that's what he really wants to do." She smirked to herself for a moment, "You could do so much better anyway."

"Like your brother?" Aria questioned, causing Alison to nearly spit out the water she had just gone to swallow.

"I didn't realize you two, liked each other like that." Alison replied vaguely, unwilling to bring up the rather awkward family dinner the two had with Mary and Jason. It just seemed like an easily avoided topic.

"We kind of slept together." Aria admitted sheepishly.

"How do two people 'kind of sleep together'?" Alison questioned, raising her eyebrows at her friend.

Aria shifted in her chair, uncomfortable talking about the past between her and Jason. "Have you heard from Mary?" She offered, changing the subject.

"You changed the topic to Mary? You must really want to avoid relationship talk." Alison chuckled to herself, and Aria shot her a look.

"It's not that, even though I can't stand the woman, I still think Veronica was kind of harsh." Aria explained, thinking back to the fight which had ensued, and the ugly ending in which Veronica had Mary forcibly removed from the hospital.

"I haven't heard from her in hours. She's probably at home crying her eyes out, and emptying my liquor cabinets." She said, joking at first but then realizing what she said had a cold hint of truth to it.

"I don't think anyone's ever told her she has a drinking problem." Alison said, turning to a more serious side of this. Whenever her aunt was feeling upset, she turned to alcohol instead of actual help. Granted, Mary had never received any real help from anyone, doctors and nurses only ever shoved pills down her throat to cure her depression. That was another thing Alison vowed she would do, get her aunt real help, from real doctors, and not the people at Welby or Radley. She deserved that, if anything, she deserved to finally be happy again.

"I'm sure she's fine, I wouldn't worry." Aria said reassuring her, as though she could detect the hint of uncertainty Alison was feeling.

"Ali?" Came Emily's groggy voice into the conversation. She sat up and stretched her arms and legs out, before letting out a yawn. Hanna was woken up by this, and proceeded to hit Emily in the face with her jacket, which she had been using as a blanket.

"Not cool, Han." Emily said, letting out another huge yawn.

"What's 'not cool' is you waking me up!" Hanna groaned back, she obviously had not gotten as great a sleep as any of the others. She sounded just as alert and cranky as she had the hours before they fell asleep.

"You guys, we really should talk about this whole mess. I mean, now that Mary is gone we can finally get to theorizing on this." Aria said, interrupting the play fight about to ensue between the two restless women.

"Theorize on what? Noel is dead." Hanna said groggily, now sitting up from the position she had just been in.

"What about Jenna?" Aria retorted.

"Hopefully she's as far as Timbuktu by now." Hanna snorted.

"Don't be ridiculous Han, Jenna seems more of an Alaska type of girl." Aria said, Hanna couldn't help but chuckle. Alison rolled her eyes at her friends, but she secretly loved that they could keep high spirits in such a time.

"Hanna's right though, A could be gone. We haven't gotten a text since Spencer got shot." Emily said, turning to see what Alison thought on the matter.

 _buzz buzz_

"Damn it." Emily swore under her breath. The girls all sighed and looked to their phones.

 _Careful what you wish for bitches_

 _-A_

Alison was about to agree to their misfortune, and then she grew worried. Was it really safe to have sent Mary home, and after the text she had supposedly gotten earlier? The one she said had been 'just an email'. What if she had been lying? What if it was actually an A text and she had been trying to keep the girls safe. Suddenly, Alison regretted not mentioning it earlier.

She began telling the girls of what had happened, and they all quickly realized they were too quick to trust Mary on her word.

"But what could she possibly of gotten a text about, unless she was on the A team?" Aria asked, thinking about what problems Mary could've gotten mixed up in.

"I don't know exactly, but I intend to find out." Alison said, standing up from her seat and almost falling because her feet had fallen asleep.

"Hold up." Emily said, standing up to stop her. "You can't leave now, we need you here."

"I have to Em, you know I do." Alison said, before pulling Emily into her lips. She remembered earlier, when all of this had been only a dream. Now, everything she ever knew and felt was at risk.

Hanna looked between the two, then to Aria, "Looks like my couple is already together." She winked at her friend, who looked exasperated that she was winning.

"You had a significant advantage." Aria hit her friend in the arm, "They were already together when we started the competition."

"Don't hate the player, hate the game." Hanna said with a wink. Aria moved to say something, but Hanna stopped her upon noticing they had a new onlooker.

"Seems that you two have been making yourselves busy while the adults are taking care of things." Veronica said, interrupting the witty banter between the two, and the kiss between the other two. This caused Aria and Hanna to realize why Alison had been so apprehensive earlier. It was because of Veronica, she wore the word 'homophobe' proudly on her sleeve.

The girls turned to see the look of disapproval and disgust on Veronica's face. Hanna suddenly became enraged at the older woman, her friends didn't deserve that judgement.

"Seems that the adults don't know how to act like adults." Hanna shot back suddenly, letting her rage out, "Considering you kicked your problem out instead of facing her." She said referring to Mary.

None of the girls said anything, but Alison and Emily were grateful for the words Hanna offered. Veronica just looked shocked that she was spoken against in such a way. She scoffed and looked to the others, "You're changing the subject, Hanna, this isn't about that-"

"Really? Because I thought the subject, was Mary and Spencer? Unless, it's actually about your problem with Emily and Alison, because I could be mistaken." Hanna spoke up even louder now, preparing to wage full on war with the woman if needed. She couldn't stand or tolerate people that acted like the Hasting's woman did.

Veronica opened her mouth to speak but she stopped when Emily continued the fight. "I saw, how you reacted to Alison coming out. You couldn't even look her in the face." Emily said with rage, looking from Veronica to her girlfriend. "Well guess what Veronica, I love Alison Dilaurentis, and you're just going to have to deal with that."

The woman looked between the two, her mouth wide open. Aria finished her off, now raising her small voice, "Take a hike Veronica, and take your homophobic comments with you."

The woman scoffed, and slipped on her coat. "I'm going home, do call me if Spencer wakes up."

"Don't worry, you'll be last on my list." Alison promised, "Homophobic piece of shit." She said the last part a little quieter.

Hanna stuck her tongue out at the woman as she turned to walk out the hospital doors. Emily just shook her head, "The last stand of Veronica Hastings."

When the waiting room faded to silence, no one knew what to say. In a sense, this was the calm after the storm.

"I think we kind of always knew you and Emily would end up together." Aria admitted finally, looking to Alison who was still grateful beyond words for her friends.

"I still beat you Aria, I got Emily and Alison together before you got Toby and Spencer together." Hanna said, a victorious smile on her face.

"You had nothing to do with them getting together, they did it on their own. Plus, Spencer is in a coma so you already had an unfair advantage." Aria pointed out, not willing to lose without a fight.

Alison chuckled at the girls' comments and grabbed her belongings from the hospital chair, still preparing to head home. She had to see Mary, she had to know she was okay. She also had to ask her some questions, about Jessica's murder. Mary had information, she intended to find out the truth, finally.

"We're doing this again? Ali, you can't go home, it's not safe yet." Emily protested again, standing up to stop her. The girls had to stick together, now more than ever.

"Nonsense, you three will be fine. I'm just going home to make sure Mary hasn't drank herself into a stupor." Alison tried to reason with her girlfriend, having made up her mind completely.

"You can go, but I'm coming with you." Emily said, slipping on her own coat. "No way I'm letting you be alone, even with a depressed Mary."

"What about Hanna and I? What are we supposed to do here?" Aria interjected, looking to her friend and back to Emily. She wasn't exactly looking forward to sitting in the hospital any longer herself.

"You two should go home as well. Get some rest, take a shower, change your clothes." Emily said. She knew that she wanted to do the same thing, but Alison was more important currently.

"Well, I'm not complaining about that." Hanna said, she grabbed her coffee and headed out the door without another word. A hot shower and some fresh clothes awaited the girl, and she didn't want to wait a minute longer.

"I guess I'll go talk to Ezra." Aria said with a shrug, "I knew it'd have to happen eventually."

She settled on this, and followed Hanna out the door. This left Emily and Alison standing alone in the waiting room. They looked at each other for the moment, the last couple of hours had changed their world completely.

"What now?" Alison asked. Emily wasn't sure if she meant what now for their relationship, or what now for the current situation.

"Well, let's go home and get some answers from Mary." Emily said, taking Alison's hand and walking out of the hospital. She felt proud to be publicly displaying her love for Alison, the love she had always felt.

When they arrived in front of the Dilaurentis house, Alison braced herself for the condition she might find Mary in. She inhaled deeply, and closed her eyes, wishing her life hadn't come to this.

Emily squeezed her hand, "You're going to be fine, Mary is going to be fine, Spencer is going to be fine. We're all going to be okay, eventually, but I'll stand by you through everything."

Alison exhaled at Emily's words, "Thank you, Em. You've always been there for me, and I don't think I've ever said thank you."

Emily laughed, "You've said thank you more times than you know Ali."

With that, the two walked into the house. Instead of finding Mary in a drunken and miserable state, Alison and Emily didn't find Mary at all. She wasn't in the house, at least as far as they could see.

"Aunt Mary? I'm home!" Alison yelled, fear of what might've happened dawning on her.

"Mary, are you here?" Emily shouted through the house. She grew concerned when no response came.

"Stay here, I'll go check the other rooms." Emily decided finally, she wasn't about to let Alison get hurt. She moved into the guest bedroom where Mary had been staying, but found no sign of her. She then checked the basement and attic, but still no Mary.

When she came back to Alison's side, "Maybe she just-" Emily paused, thinking of a possible explanation. "Maybe she went on one of those walks you said she likes."

Alison wasn't convinced, Emily didn't even sound convinced at her own words. Mary wouldn't go out after what had just happened, it wasn't like her. Something was wrong, it had to be, the feeling of fear now coming back to Alison.

"I just hope she's not doing anything stupid, like trying to kill herself." Alison said, immediately regretting the words as soon as she said them. Tears trickled in her eyes, and Emily pulled her into a hug. "I can't lose another family member, I can't lose her too."

"I don't see Mary killing herself, she's smarter than that." Emily sighed, forcing Alison to sit down on the couch. "I think we should just relax and maybe change out of our clothes, and eventually she'll come home." Emily said, still trying to calm Alison while remaining calm herself. It wasn't that hard to believe that something might've happened to Mary, but Emily tried to stay positive. If not to herself, at least to Alison.

"I guess you're right, I should go change." Alison got up to move, but stopped when she heard the front door open. The girls both turned, and saw Mary walking in, tears in her eyes.

Mary looked at the two curiously, she obviously wasn't expecting to see them in the house when she returned. Alison practically leaped into her aunt's arms, just happy to see that she was alive and well was enough cause for a hug. Mary was surprised at the girl's actions, and cautiously hugged her back.

"Aunt Mary, I was so worried. I thought something horrible happened to you." Alison said, still not wanting to let go of her aunt.

Mary pulled away from the hug, "Don't be silly Alison, I'm fine." Alison was shocked that her aunt was giving her the cold shoulder, she had expected the woman to want a shoulder to cry on, especially now.

Mary was, in fact, touched that her niece cared so much. But, she didn't appreciate the sudden want for hugs and emotion. This was one of her weakest moments, she didn't want the two to see her in such a state.

"Where were you?" Emily asked, also noting the hostility, "We came home, and we couldn't find you."

Mary sighed, "To be completely honest, I was crying in my car for a good hour. Then I went back to the Lost Woods before stopping home." Mary looked at Emily now, "I'm sorry I worried you two."

Alison noticed that Mary seemed significantly less broken up over this than she might've thought. She loved her aunt, and she wanted her to be okay, so she wasn't complaining.

"I came home with Alison because I didn't want her to be alone this close to the accident." Emily explained, looking to Alison who was grateful for her presence.

"You're family now Emily, you don't have to explain yourself." Mary said, as if the conversation was the most ridiculous one she'd ever heard.

Alison moved to go change her clothes, noticing Mary had already changed. She knew how much the older woman despised having any memory of Spencer's accident. She watched as her aunt moved around the kitchen humming, a strange way to deal with grief, yet Alison wouldn't argue.

It was Emily who noticed something odd with this. Mary had moved all of her clothes to this house already, how would she have changed? "Mary, didn't you say you went to the Lost Woods before you stopped home?" She expressed her thought aloud.

"Yes dear, why?" Mary responded, looking to Emily with concern. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I just, I'm a little on edge still." Emily came up with her excuse quickly. Alison came back from her room after changing and stood next to her girlfriend.

"I'm going to go home. A little sleep might go a long way for me." Emily explained to her girlfriend. "Call me later, and stay safe, okay?"

"I will Em, I love you." She looked from Mary to Emily, and left a shy kiss on her girlfriends lips. Emily pulled her into a hug and whispered softly into her ear, "Something's wrong with her, find out as much as you can."

Emily left her girlfriend in the house, reluctantly, that is. It wasn't her proudest moment, but she hoped Alison would spot the red flags she noticed too. Nothing would've been accomplished if she had stayed with the two.

Alison went and sat down next to her aunt. "Are you okay Aunt Mary? You can tell me honestly, you know you can."

Mary sighed, looking away from Alison for a moment. "I just hate that, Spencer's laying there, and I'm sitting here." After a moment, "I would give anything to trade places with her."

Alison nodded, "I get that. I haven't given birth to my child yet, but I still feel a connection to it, like I would do anything to protect it." Mary's eyes widened at this, Alison immediately regretted bringing it up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit too close to home on that one." Alison said, looking to her broken aunt once again.

"No, it's fine. I just hate, expressing emotion. I always keep everything bottled up, it's easier that way." Mary tried to explain, she never was good at explaining things.

"Like your hatred for Jessica?" Alison began, this sparked another reaction from Mary.

"Yes, like that." She said coldly, looking away now. It was hard to talk about the woman, especially in front of her daughter.

All the time Mary was talking, Alison thought about how much her mother had hurt her aunt. In what ways, she didn't know yet, but she imagined it a horrible fate. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm not naming her Jessica anymore." She said, referring to her stomach.

"Do you know if it's a she yet?" Mary asked, still curious about the baby.

"No. Nothing new since I told you five hours ago in the hospital." Alison said with a laugh towards her absent minded aunt.

"You just sounded so sure it was a she.." Mary trailed off, "Why are you changing your mind now? Don't let me affect what you name your child."

Alison felt ashamed of what she had to admit. She owed her aunt an explanation though, "I was originally naming her because I wanted a memory of Jessica. After our chat in the hospital, I realized all the memories I had of my mother were horrible ones." She sighed, "I don't want to look at my child and see my mother. My biggest fear is that I'm going to turn out to be like my mother, I don't want that."

Mary realized that the young woman was crying now, "You won't turn out to be like her, trust me. You've already got your life somewhat on track, and I won't let anyone derail you."

Alison sniffled, "She made me what I was, that little selfish brat of a teenager. I like to think I've grown, that I've changed, but sometimes I think I'm still that girl."

Mary looked her in the eyes, causing a chill to run down her spine. "I was wrong, when I thought you were the devil spawn. You are the kindest woman I've ever met, and I don't see any of Jessica in you." She put her hand in Alison's, "You are your own person, I wouldn't worry about that."

"Thank you, Aunt Mary." Alison said, wiping her tears. "You really know how to give good advice."

Mary chuckled to herself, "You know, I've been told that before."

"Mary, I have to ask you something, and I need you to answer honestly. I won't be mad, I won't even judge you, I just need an honest answer." Alison said, not sure how she could possibly be asking this. Mary realized her niece was serious, it was the first time she hadn't called her 'Aunt Mary'. "Did you kill my mother?"

This elicited a sound from Mary that was a mixture of a snort and an exasperated sigh. "No, I didn't kill Jessica." This caused Alison to sigh in relief, "To be honest, I thought about doing it for years. All those years I was in London, plotting my revenge." She looked away, a look of regret in her eyes, "Then when I came back, she was already dead. I realized then, my plot for revenge had been petty and childish. I shifted my focus to finding my children, look how far that got me."

"You got an A text." Alison began, moving to get more answers from her aunt, "In the hospital. You told me it was just an email, I know it wasn't that."

"You're right, it wasn't." Mary said cautiously, she still knew she couldn't confess everything.

"So, what was it about?" Alison said, trying to get her to come clean. "You're not- working with AD still?"

Mary felt slightly offended, she thought Alison trusted her more than that. "I can tell you I'm not working with AD, but the text-" she trailed off, deciding what she would do.

Alison was intrigued now, "I don't want to get you in danger, if you can't tell me."

"You remember, I told you that I knew Marion Cavanaugh." Mary started cautiously, looking like she might break at the seams. "I also know who murdered her." She managed to get out finally.

"I do too, it was Bethany. She framed Charlotte for it, Charlotte confessed everything." Alison said, sighing in relief that it's all the text was.

Mary shook her head, still looking grim. "That's not what happened, it's what the two girls were taught to say.

Realization dawned on Alison now, "They were covering for someone, but who?" Mary was now trying desperately to wipe her tears.

"I can't tell you, it'll get us all killed." She tried to explain, "I wish I could've saved Marion, I really do. But it's not too late to save everyone else.." Mary trailed off now.

"Do you know who AD is?" Alison asked, the way Mary was talking, it almost sounded like-

"No, I wish I did." She said, still tearing up, "I'll tell you all I know when it's safe, I promise."

Alison wanted badly to find out more from her aunt, now that she knew more information was to be told. However, she trusted Mary when she said that it wasn't safe yet. She knew she could trust her aunt, and that she would be in the clear in due time.

Mary however, was slightly more concerned than Alison was. She couldn't hide these secrets for long, not with the danger of a higher power looming. Eventually, she would slip up, and then they'd all have to pay, with their lives.

"I'm going to go out on a walk, it helps clear my mind when I'm overly emotional." Mary explained, "Will you be alright here on your own?"

Alison sighed, "Yeah, I'll be fine." She felt the opposite however. The whole point of Emily going home was that Mary could watch and take care of her. Now Mary was leaving her to go off to wherever.

Mary bid a final goodbye before walking out the door. She couldn't help but wonder why Alison had let her go, and why she had believed her so quickly. Maybe, just maybe, this whole thing would be easier than she thought.

 **A/N: I'm sorry that was such a filler chapter, but, it was necessary in order to progress the story. Don't worry, I have a plan ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **A/N: I wrote this whole chapter while I was sleep deprived and heavily medicated, but it worked out the last time… I'm dedicating this chapter to the guest who commented on the last chapter to ask me if I was going to follow the Emison baby storyline, this one's for you, I hope you enjoy it!**

 **(P.S. I figured out how to get those page-break line things. It makes my chapter looks much more organized, and it helps keep the different story lines separate.)**

A huge breath echoed through the empty hospital room. Spencer shot up, panting, she was afraid. Afraid she was still in danger, afraid for her friends. Was Jenna still hunting them? Her mouth was caked and dry, she desperately needed water.

When she came to her senses, Spencer gathered she was in a hospital room. She sighed in relief, feeling a piercing pain in her chest. Then, she remembered that she had been shot, and saved, and been told that her whole life was a lie.

"Oh my god." It was Mary, who had been sitting next to her bedside for who knows how long. "You're alive, I can't believe it." The older woman didn't even know what to do, how to function. Spencer was alive, and breathing next to her.

When Mary realized she was staring, she felt bad. She realized this couldn't be easy for Spencer, being tossed into the mess that was her family. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare, I just.."

"Don't worry about it." Spencer said, understanding now that her condition must've been pretty bleak. The look of pain in the woman's eyes caused her chest to hurt even worse.

Mary had finally calmed down a bit, sitting back down next to her daughter. "Do you need anything, maybe some water?" She offered.

"Some water would be great." Spencer said, still trying to catch her own breath. "How long have I been in a coma?"

"Almost two days." Mary responded, pouring water into a plastic cup and handing it to Spencer. "The other girls went home hours ago, I came back after Veronica finally left."

Spencer thought about this for a moment, Mary had come back to sit with her. No one else had cared enough, they all went home, but Mary had stayed. It sounded like she hadn't wanted to leave in the first place. "Did my mom.." she stopped herself at Mary's slight flinch. "..Veronica kick you out?"

Mary nodded silently, she found no pride in ratting out Veronica. Their battle was between the two of them, she didn't intend on getting Spencer involved. "You missed a lot in the last two days." She said changing the subject.

"Like?" Spencer asked, genuinely curious. She didn't doubt the girls would fill her in later, but she thought Mary credible enough.

The nurses came running in before they could continue the conversation any further. Spencer shot Mary an apologetic look as she was ushered out.

Standing out in the hallway alone, Mary called Alison, the only thing she could think to do.

"Mary?" Her voice came from the other side of the phone. She was clearly worried and sounded quite flustered.

"It's Spencer, she's awake." Mary said, she realized Alison would now know she had lied. At that point, she was just happy Spencer was alive. She would explain to Alison later, this was more important.

"I'll be right there." Is what Alison responded, she had many other questions, but no time to ask them. She texted a message into the group, her fingers shaking as she typed.

 _SOS, Spencer's awake, meet at the hospital asap. - Alison_

In a flat out twenty minutes, all of the girls were standing in Spencer's hospital room. She was laying back now, finally relaxed. Her mouth was no longer dry, thanks to Mary, and the doctors had filled her in on her medical condition.

"Where is Jenna now?" She asked, looking to the relieved faces of the girls. They had just finished recounting all of the events of the past two days.

"Still missing." Aria began. "But at this point, I think we're all just happy you're alive." Aria took Spencer's hand and gave it a light squeeze. The girls all nodded in agreement.

Spencer sighed, "Would you all stop looking at me like I'm going to break into a million pieces? I'm fine." She loved her friends, but hated that they saw her as weak and broken. She had gotten shot to save them, after all that, she at least deserved some normalcy.

Hanna looked at her with concern, "We just care Spence, especially after everything with Mary.." she trailed off, not sure how much Spencer remembered.

"Where is Mary?" Spencer began, but all of the girls just looked at each other.

"You mean, Scary Mary?" Aria asked, Alison and Emily both shot her a matching look. Aria rolled her eyes at the couple before turning back to Spencer, hoping she hadn't fallen for her spell either.

"What?" Spencer asked, her eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. "Did you seriously come up with a childish nickname for her?" Aria sat down sheepishly, obviously her joke had not gotten her far.

"What Aria means is," Alison began, looking at Aria, then to Spencer again. "Mary's out in the waiting room. She wanted to give you some time with us."

"What about my mom, Veronica that is." Spencer asked, growing worried when she saw the look of hatred forming on the girls faces. The only thing they had left out when they told the story of Emily and Alison's relationship, was that Veronica didn't approve.

"You mean-" Alison clamped her hand over Aria's mouth before she could continue with her nickname for Veronica.

"What did Veronica do to you four?" Spencer asked, when Mary said she missed a lot, she really meant it.

Before any of the girls could answer her however, Veronica came walking into the hospital room.

"Speak of the devil, and thou shall appear." Alison said, rolling her eyes. And Emily held her back before she did anything drastic. Alison contained herself for Spencer, unwilling to create anymore family drama.

"Oh Spencer!" Veronica ran to her daughter, ignoring the others. "Thank God you're alright." She embraced Spencer a little too tight, causing her to grunt out in pain.

"C'mon Emily, let's go." Alison said taking her girlfriend's arm, "We wouldn't want to ruin their moment with our lesbianing." The two stormed out and left Aria and Hanna standing there awkwardly, Veronica shooting daggers at both.

"Let's go check to make sure she didn't kick Mary out again." Hanna suggested, forcefully pulling Aria out of the room. Neither felt like getting in a feud with the older woman, Mary had made that mistake.

"Mom, what did you do?" Spencer asked upon seeing her friends more than upset at Veronica. She looked past her mother, and out the door to her friends.

"That doesn't matter now, all that matters is that you're alright." Veronica replied, trying to change the subject. In her mind, none of this would have happened if Mary hadn't come to town. Things would be normal between everyone if she had stayed locked up.

"Yeah, no thanks to you." Spencer snarked back, not wanting to hear any of the sympathetic shit from Veronica. Her mother was on a victory cruise while she was dealing with her own personal hell..

"I understand you're upset Spencer, but that's no reason to get yourself worked up. You need rest." Veronica explained, trying to calm down the girl. As long as she didn't start asking questions, things would be alright.

"You've lied to me my whole life. Who I'm related to, who my real mother is.." Spencer stopped and thought for a moment, "Is Peter even my real dad?"

Veronica sighed, "He is. He's not here because he's still mad at me for the divorce." She said, silently cursing Peter for not being there for his daughter.

"He's not here for _me_ , because he's mad at _you_?" Spencer chuckled to herself, "Father of the year award." She tried to think back to a time Peter had ever really been a good father. She gave up after five minutes of finding absolutely nothing. That was one thing about Veronica, at least she tried.

"I'll admit that Peter is a horrible father, but I tried to make you feel like you belonged." Veronica offered up, although, she knew she wasn't perfect.

"I just need to think things over, do you think you could bring Alison in when you go?" Spencer asked, she noticed the look on Veronica's face when she mentioned her cousin.

"Sure, I'll see you later Spencer." Veronica gave in finally. She headed out the door after giving Spencer a final kiss on the forehead.

When she entered the waiting room, Alison and Mary were having a heated conversation. The other girls were off to the side, discussing who knows what at that point. She stood and watched for awhile, enjoying seeing the feud.

"I just don't understand, why did you lie?" Alison said, trying not to raise her voice. "You could've just told me you were coming to the hospital."

"It's complicated Alison." Mary said, trying to calm her niece down, it wasn't working very well.

"How is it complicated?" Alison shouted now. "Hey Alison, I'm going back to the hospital to check on Spencer. Be back in a few hours." She sighed. "That's all you had to say!"

Mary looked away, ashamed, "If you really must know. I was afraid you'd see me as weak, or the victim, if I told you. I just wanted to be normal, just for once."

Alison finally realized that all the older woman had wanted was some validation. She just wanted someone to look at her like she was a normal human being. Not some insane asylum patient, or a weak victim of the system.

"Aunt Mary.." She didn't finish before Mary pulled her into a hug. It made up for the one she had been robbed of earlier.

"I've survived so long without anybody or anything else to care about that I'm thrown out of balance. All of a sudden I'm feeling emotions and caring, and I'm trying Alison, I really am. But I've never been normal." Mary tried to explain, her tears rolling down onto Alison's shoulder.

Veronica was sick of watching the sappy sob story between the two. "I hate to interrupt.." she began, "wait that's a lie, I don't hate it actually."

The two disengaged the hug and turned to Veronica wiping their tears. "What now Veronica?" Mary replied simply, disregarding her dry humor.

"Spencer wants to see you, Alison that is, not you Mary." Veronica said the last three words with venom. She smirked as Mary's smile faded, she had already accomplished her goal.

"I'll be right back Aunt Mary." Alison promised, she shot Veronica a last look and moved to the hospital room.

Alison knocked on the door and Spencer looked up to see her. "Alison." She smiled, and Alison moved to her bedside to give her a hug.

"How're you holding up Spence?" Alison asked, tucking Spencer's hair behind her ears.

"To be honest." Spencer began, "I'm terrified and confused and in so much pain it's not even funny."

Alison didn't know what to say to that, but she knew the only person Spencer was ever honest with was her. "Aren't the doctors giving you medication to help with that?"

Spencer sighed, "As much as I'd like to take some pills and forget everything." She said, wincing in pain, "I'm afraid I'll get addicted again, so I told the doctors no."

Alison nodded, she hadn't been around when Spencer had gotten addicted. She found it a commendable choice though, Spencer would rather suffer through then go down the wrong path again.

"I'm proud of you for doing that Spence. This whole thing must be difficult." Alison said, she wasn't sure what else she could say. That's when she realized Spencer had tears in her eyes.

She sat down next to her cousin, and took her into her arms. "It's okay to cry. You can cry to me." She explained, trying to be soothing.

"I'm so done Alison." She said, openly crying now, "Just when I think my life can't get anymore complicated, it does."

Alison rubbed her back, "I know it sucks, and I can't promise you it's going to get any better." Spencer sniffled, Alison continued, "However, I can promise I'll be here to help you. After all, we are family now."

Spencer managed to chuckle, "Don't remind me. That's a whole other problem."

Alison thought back to Mary, who was still in the hall. She was in no better mood than Spencer was, "I'm the only member of this family not crying today." She said aloud. "I had to deal with a depressed Mary, and now you, all while I'm dying inside."

She leaned her head against Spencer's shoulder, breaking the silence looming. "Sorry if I made you even more depressed. I'm like the queen of not helping."

Spencer laughed, thinking back to happier times when things weren't nearly as complicated. "Honestly, I'm concerned about Mary."

Alison sat up, "Concerned how?"

"Is she really crazy, like the others said?" Spencer began, finally speaking her mind. "Does she actually care about me or is she evil, and, I don't know, trying to manipulate me?"

Alison couldn't believe her ears. "You're asking me if the woman who cried herself sick, was willing to fight your mother in order to stay in the hospital with you, and lied to me so she could sneak back here and sit next to you for five hours, cares about you?"

"Ok so maybe it was a stupid question." Spencer said, giving into Alison. "But aren't you just a little worried that she hasn't told us everything?"

Alison sighed, "She knows who killed Toby's Mom." Alison immediately regretted saying this as soon as she said it.

A lightbulb went off behind Spencer's eyes, Alison saw it as soon as it happened. It meant she had an idea, or a deep thought. "Which means it wasn't Charlotte or Bethany." She muttered under her breath, saying it more to herself than Alison.

She looked like she wanted to jump out of her hospital bed, "So? Who is it Alison?"

Alison hated to disappoint Spencer, but she knew she would have to when she first said it. "Mary can't tell us, it's not safe, not yet anyway."

The light fell from Spencer's eyes. "You got my hopes up for nothing?"

"I'm sorry, but it felt wrong not to fill you in." Alison said. Spencer look disappointed, and sulked back down. "Spencer, I should really go back to Mary. Veronica was acting like she wanted to start a fight, and I don't want a repeat of that."

Spencer grabbed Alison's arm, stopping her from walking out the door. "Alison, tell me honestly, I need to know."

Alison nodded for her to continue. "Can I trust Mary?" Her voice sounded pleading, desperate almost. Alison realized Spencer trusted her with virtually her life. Who was she to say that Spencer couldn't trust the woman that was her mother?

"I trust her, Emily trusts her, but the girls don't." Alison began cautiously. "She's a broken woman who came back to Rosewood for you, please don't break her any further."

Spencer looked upset now, "Is that a yes or a no Alison?" Alison turned back, hesitant, "I need one simple word, please."

"Yes." Alison let the single word fall from her mouth, which was suddenly parched. She gave Spencer's hand one last squeeze, and walked out the door.

Spencer sat on the last word for awhile, mulling it over in her head. Alison said she could trust Mary, but that's the same girl who trusted Charlotte, and Charlotte had tortured all of them. She hated to even think it, but Alison was gullible when it came to family. Although, her fear of Mary didn't overcome her want for answers. If this woman really was her mother, and really did care for her like Alison said, she would trust her.

* * *

When Alison got back to the waiting room, she was happy to see the girls all in civil conversation. No one had kicked anyone out, or were yelling loudly, so that was something.

Emily was off to the side talking to Mary about, naturally, Alison. It seemed that all awkward and skeptical feelings from yesterday had been forgotten by Emily. She had just finished telling her about their past together, and Alison smiled when she heard the final words her girlfriend was saying.

"It's been a long seven years, but I love her so much." Emily said smiling. Mary was grinning ear to ear, finally happy to see them together.

"I love you too." Alison said hugging Emily from behind. Emily was pleasantly surprised and tilted her head up to kiss Alison.

When they finished, Emily asked. "How's Spencer doing?" Mary leaned in eagerly as well, interested to hear how her daughter was holding up.

"She's a little upset right now, but who wouldn't be?" Mary nodded, seemingly understanding that Alison meant Spencer was upset about her. "Just give her some time, she'll come around." She finished, now obviously talking to Mary.

Emily realized her question hadn't helped Mary's worrying. All the woman wanted was for her daughter to be okay, and she saw the pain in her eyes.

Alison looked at her phone, and read the time on her lock screen. "Em, we have to go." She whispered to just the other two.

Emily looked at her, confused. Alison just rolled her eyes and whispered, "The OBGYN appointment. You promised to go with me."

A look of realization dawned on Emily as she remembered the promise she had made some hours ago. "How are we getting out of here without the others noticing?"

Alison hadn't thought about that part, she hadn't thought she would be with the others so soon before the appointment.

Mary spoke up, "I'll go over and start a fight with Veronica, while it's going on, you two slip away."

Alison hugged Mary once more, "You're a real life saver. Stay strong, okay?"

Mary nodded, "I will." With that, she stood up and walked over to Veronica. She muttered a single world and a screaming match ensued between the two. Hanna and Aria turned to them, getting up to survey the fight.

"Remind me to thank her later." Emily whispered to Alison, watching the two go at it.

"C'mon Em, if we leave now, we might make it to the appointment on time." Alison said, still hoping she was making the right decision by leaving Mary to fend for herself.

* * *

The two women arrived at the OBGYN's office, twenty minutes late for their appointment. It didn't matter much anyway, the doctor was backed up a good half hour.

They sat in the waiting room, Alison laid her head on Emily's shoulder. She hadn't gotten any sleep in a good forty eight hours, which can't have been good for the baby.

"Em? Do you think Mary is going to be okay?" Alison threw out into the open, that's not the only thing she was thinking about, her mind was racing about a number of different things. She was worried about A.D. harming her child, or her friends, what would happen if they didn't find Charlotte's killer?

Emily hated to think that Alison was still worrying. What else could she do to ease her girlfriends mind? "Do you want me to text her?" Emily asked "if I get a confirmation that she's alright, will you stop worrying?"

Alison thought about this for a moment before deciding it would be a good idea. "Well, it would ease my mind a little." She replied, knowing that it wouldn't really.

Emily pulled out her phone and shot Mary a text.

 _Hey Mary, it's Emily. Alison is really worried about you and I just wondered if you might ease her mind a little._

"Done. Now we just wait for her to respond." Emily said, running her hand through Alison's hair. "Have you eaten lately?"

Alison sighed, feeling sick to her stomach all of a sudden. "Even thinking about food makes me sick." Emily sighed, she knew Alison needed to eat at some point.

"Well, if you get hungry let me know." Emily said squeezing her girlfriend's hand.

"I'm sorry I'm being so insensitive Em, I'm just tired, and worried about a multitude of things." Alison said, nuzzling even further into Emily's shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry about that. I'm here to support you, I completely understand where you're coming from…" Emily trailed off when she heard her phone buzz.

Sure enough, the text was from Mary.

 _Everything's fine here. The girls are wondering where you two are but I told them you probably went home to rest_

"Good old Mary, always watching out for us." Emily smiled, showing Alison the text from her phone.

Alison smiled and seemed to be somewhat relieved. "Thank God everything is okay."

"Now will you relax a little?" Emily asked, hoping this would be enough to calm Alison.

"Fine. Consider me relaxed." Alison said, causing Emily to smile. Just as she was about to close her eyes, the nurse came walking toward the pair.

"Alison Dilaurentis?" The nurse asked, questioning which of the two was the pregnant one.

"That's me." Alison said with a halfhearted smile. She still hated that the baby was Archers, but she told herself she would forget about that, and focus on it being her's instead.

"I'm Emily Fields, her girlfriend." Emily said trying to contain her huge smile.

"Oh of course, how silly of me." The nurse said chuckling to herself. "You're the one that donated your eggs. Congrats you two, you'll make wonderful mothers."

They both stopped dead in their tracks. The nurse turned to the pair, concerned. They looked at each other for a moment. "Excuse me, what?" Alison said, her jaw dropping.

"Oh, is it not Emily's? I just assumed since her eggs were donated and you received eggs that you two used them to start a family." The woman was embarrassed now. "My mistake, I am so sorry."

Emily looked to Alison who looked just as confused as she felt. "You must be mistaken, I wasn't donated eggs. The child was conceived.. under unfortunate circumstances."

The nurse shook her head, "Your chart says you were donated eggs.."

Emily interrupted the nurse, "We need to speak to the doctor, immediately, this must be some mistake."

The nurse looked completely flustered now, "Of course.. I'll get her right away." She ran out of the room in a split second.

Emily turned to Alison who looked as white as a sheet. "Em, you don't think..." She didn't need to finish the sentence because Emily already knew what she meant.

"It's possible." Emily said, not disregarding the theory. "A.D did send me that baby names book."

Alison closed her eyes, shaking her head, she tried to imagine herself out of this situation. "What am I going to do?" She opened her eyes, "What have I already done?"

Emily grabbed her hand and held it tightly, "You didn't do anything, A.D did. Let's not jump to conclusions until we know something for sure."

The doctor came walking in at an unusually fast pace. She looked just as flustered as the other nurse did. "Sorry to keep you girls waiting."

"I need to know why it's reported that someone's eggs were used on me when I don't recall that ever happening." Alison said, still not accepting that this could've happened. She would've known, she would've been able to tell, she would've remembered.

"It's true Ms. Dilaurentis. Someone's eggs were used on you shortly after Ms. Fields' eggs went missing, but we can't be sure they're hers." The doctor said, obviously feeling horrible at the situation she had put the two through.

"What do you mean, 'you can't be sure'? You don't keep a file on these things?" Emily snapped, losing her patience. She just wanted answers, something she rarely ever received.

"The person who used the eggs on Ms. Dilaurentis made sure no paper trail was left behind. Which means, we have no record or file on when this took place, or how." The doctor explained, sensing that tensions were running high she suggested something else. "Although, I could run a DNA test to make certain who's baby is really growing inside of you."

Alison felt faint all of a sudden, "I think that might be a good idea."

Emily offered Alison her water bottle, she took it gratefully and drank almost all of it. She began sweating and didn't know what to do. Her brain wasn't properly assessing all of the information she had just received.

"I'll put that test through for you, you'll get it within a few days." The doctor said before leaving the two to their own thoughts.

"What now?" Alison muttered aloud, Emily didn't know what to respond, because she was asking herself the same question. Why would A.D. do this to them? This was the worst torture imaginable, the uncertainty of it all. Of course, Emily would have no problem if the child was hers, but hated having to find out like this.

* * *

Back at the hospital, things had died down from the fight Mary had intentionally started. Hanna and Aria had visited Spencer every so often to make sure she was okay, whereas Veronica stormed out after the fight.

"Alright, I'm heading home." Aria stated finally, the three had been sitting in silence for nearly an hour at that point. "Spencer's alive, and it's not like we're going to make conversation anytime soon, so I don't see a reason to sit here." She said putting on her coat and heading to the door.

Hanna ran after her, not willing to stay alone with Mary. It didn't affect the older woman much, people had always run from her, feared her, for as long as she could remember. She had grown accustomed to being alone, and learned to like it. With Emily and Alison busy at their OBGYN appointment, it's not like she had anything better to do.

She made the conscious decision to approach Spencer's hospital room. What's the worst that could happen? She actually thought of quite a few of the worst things that could happen, but swallowed her fear and knocked on the door frame.

She found Spencer sitting up staring at the wall across from her. "Come in." The girl muttered half-heartedly.

"If it's not a good time.." she stopped when she noticed Spencer wincing in pain. "Are you alright?"

"If I focus really intensely on something, I don't remember I'm in pain." Spencer stated simply as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "Hence the reason I'm staring at the wall. I must look crazy to you." She didn't even have to look at Mary to know that she flinched at her use of the word 'crazy'.

"Sorry, poor choice of words." She said through clenched teeth. Mary nodded, moving into the room and sitting next to her daughter.

"You have problems with medication too?" Mary asked simply, assuming that was why Spencer was in so much pain.

"I had addiction problems when I was younger, not my proudest moment. If that's what you meant, if not, I just admitted I was a druggie." Spencer said, still remaining completely focused on the wall straight ahead of her.

"That's my fault. Just another problem I burdened you with." Mary said, ashamed that she had taken pills while pregnant with Spencer. Not that she had a choice, Radley forced her to keep constant with her medication. They didn't give a damn what happened to her baby.

"Ms. Drake, all due respect, I have much bigger problems than you." Spencer said flatly, still trying to be respectful. "That came out much more harsh than I intended it to."

"What else have you been doing?" Mary began, "I mean, besides staring at the wall."

Spencer chuckled to herself. "Making mind numbing conversation with Aria and Hanna for a bit." She said yawning. "Then Toby called, he's in no greater condition than I am. Wife's dead, he's got a few broken ribs, and his step sister is a fugitive."

"I'm sorry if this conversation is as mind numbing as the ones you had with Aria and Hanna." Mary offered, she wasn't sure how else to reply to that.

"Surprisingly, it's not." Spencer stated. "Mostly because you're not treating me like I'm going to shatter into a million pieces at any second."

"I am still worried about you, but you knew that already." Mary responded, and Spencer just nodded in agreement.

"Of course I did. Alison filled me in on everything you've done for me in the past two days." Spencer smiled, "I do appreciate you keeping me company while I was asleep, you know."

Mary shrugged, "Not like I had much else to do, and even if I did, I still would've sat here." She thought for a moment, "What else did Alison tell you?"

Spencer prepared to recount the conversation she had with her cousin, "First, she told me you knew who killed Marion Cavanaugh, then she told me I could trust you." Mary closed her eyes, shaking her head. Alison couldn't keep her mouth shut for anything. "Wasn't very smart on her part because finding out you're keeping things from me isn't exactly a good basis for a trust built relationship."

Mary shook her head again, "No it's not, and now I know I can't trust Alison to keep a secret."

Spencer laughed, "Alison always shares secrets, no matter how big or small. It's what we do in our little group of liars." She let the last few words die on her tongue for dramatic effect.

Spencer thought for a moment, "Oh, she also said that you were a 'broken woman who came back to Rosewood for me' and that I 'shouldn't break you any further.'" She broke eye contact with the wall now, sizing Mary up. "Seems like you can handle yourself fine. You've managed to defend yourself against Veronica two times, save the lives of five girls, and support your niece and her girlfriend, all in the last 48 hours."

"I guess you could say I have experience when it comes to defending myself and others." Mary said vaguely, Spencer wished she would elaborate more.

"You surprised me alright. I never expected to see this side of you. In all honesty, I expected you to kill me before you ever opened up to me." Spencer admitted, causing Mary to laugh aloud.

"I may seem scary, but I'm too weak to ever kill anyone." Mary reassured the girl, if she ever had a spine stiff enough to kill anyone, she would've killed Jessica when she had the chance.

"There's a killer in all of us, sometimes it just takes awhile to find its way out to the surface." Spencer said, thinking back to the countless times they'd had to hurt someone.

Mary's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Spencer sighed, "It happened when Alison blinded Jenna, when Aria killed Shana, when Emily stabbed Nate, when Hanna decapitated Noel. We do things we don't even mean to do sometimes, it just happens."

"You've never killed anyone?" Mary asked her daughter, surprised at the shocking confession coming from her.

"Never, and I don't intend to. Not unless I need to." Spencer said, a sort of finality in her voice. "I think I'm going to try and get some rest. You should go home and try to as well."

"I think I just might do that." Mary decided to listen to Spencer's advice. She looked back to her daughter once more, "Goodbye Spencer."

"Bye Mary." Spencer replied, offering a weak smile to the older woman. She appreciated the attempt, and it made her day just a bit brighter.

It took Mary until she had finally gotten into her car to realize what had just happened. She had a normal, and civilized, conversation with her daughter. She hoped it would be the first of many. _It could've gone worse._ She thought to herself, _It also could've gone better_. For now, she decided, she would take anything she could get. Hopefully, when Spencer was finally out of the hospital, things would change. For the worse, or the better, Mary wasn't sure.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **A/N: Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the split story lines of last chapter, I'm going to be doing those more often. This chapter is finally going to be getting out of the hospital setting, thank god for that. Sorry for taking so long to get this updated, but it's another really long chapter, so enjoy!**

When Emily and Alison arrived back at the Dilaurentis house, they found Mary asleep. They sat down on the couch, Alison wishing that she might get some much needed sleep as well.

"Well, it was about time she got some sleep." Emily said, breaking the silence. "You should too."

Alison didn't realize that Emily had said anything to her. Her mind had traveled to other places, she had been worried before, but now she was really worried. What if the child was Emily's? What then? Would Emily be willing to stay and help her raise it? All of these thoughts raced around in her head, but eventually, she snapped back to reality.

"Ali? Are you alright?" Emily said, waving her hand in front of Alison's face. "Earth to Alison?"

"Oh yeah," Alison said, kicking herself for not having listened, "I'm fine, just deep in thought."

Emily sat up, looking her in the face now. "You can talk to me, I bet we have the same things on our mind."

Alison sighed as Emily took her hand. She was reluctant to tell Emily what she was thinking, but realized their was no way she was getting out of the conversation. "If the baby, does end up being yours." She began, "Are you, going to be okay with that?"

Emily laughed, as if not believing Alison had been worried. "Ali, even if the baby _is_ Archers', I'm still going to stay and help you raise it." Alison sighed in relief, calming her rigid body. "It being mine would just be the icing on the cake."

"So, you wouldn't be, upset? Or even weirded out?" Alison said, still in disbelief at the whole situation, and the turn this day had taken.

"Weirded out? Yes. Upset? No." Emily said, looking Alison in the eyes with genuine sincerity. "Of course I'm weirded out, and pissed at A.D. for doing this to both of us, but it would make me truly happy to be the mother of your child."

Alison smiled, and Emily smiled back. She pulled Alison into her arms and planted a kiss on her lips. "So stick it A.D.!" Emily yelled to the sky, as if the being could hear her from where they were sitting.

 _Buzz buzz_

They both turned and looked at Emily's phone, which had just went off. "Maybe it's just Spencer.." Alison hoped aloud, and Emily checked the text with a sigh.

"It's just my mom." She said smiling in relief, "She wanted to check in and see how Spencer was doing."

Alison let out a laugh in spite of herself, "Oh thank God." She laid back down on Emily's chest and allowed herself to relax into her girlfriend's arms. Emily finished texting Pam back, and took her into a hug. Slowly, the two fell asleep in each other's arms, finally happy about all the stress of the day.

* * *

The next morning, Spencer was woken up by the nurses to check her vitals, and change her IV. The nurse's brow furrowed and Spencer looked up in confusion. "What it is it? Is something wrong?"

The nurse shook her head, "It looks like someone tampered with your IV.." Panic set in and Spencer realized this could only be the works of A.D. "I don't know how any of us could've missed it. Nurse Barbara checked your IV right after your last visitor left."

"Well, can you figure out what's being administered into my bloodstream?" Spencer snapped, not willing to risk her life any further. "I wouldn't want to die like that after I've survived this gun shot."

The nurse disconnected the tampered IV immediately, and ran to get the doctor. Spencer sat waiting patiently, she could have been dying and not even have known it. If A.D. was really serious about killing her, they could've done it this way.

It was when her phone buzzed that she knew she should really be concerned.

 _Don't worry Spencer, it's nothing too dangerous… I don't intend on killing you, not yet anyway._

 _-A.D._

Just as Spencer put her phone down, and silently cursed A.D. for putting her in this situation, the nurse came walking back in. She seemed relatively calm, something Spencer was not. "Good news Ms. Hastings," She began, offering a smile. "It's nothing poisonous, it's just Propofol."

Spencer might've considered herself smart, but she was not a medical professional, she was a politician. She had no clue what Propofol was, and she intended to ask the nurse, but the woman ran out before she could.

Her phone buzzed again, as she was going to google what the medicine was.

 _Propofol - A short acting medication that results in a decreased level of consciousness and lack of memory for events._

 _Common side effects include; an irregular heart rate, low blood pressure, and, if used improperly, the stopping of breathing._

 _Luckily for you, I know how to use it properly_

 _-A.D._

Spencer sighed in relief, although it wasn't much relief, her hospital room was still able to be broken into. She wasn't safe, never, not even in the hospital. She thought about this for a moment, and remembered that she was going to be released today.

"Hello Spencer, how are you holding up?" It was Veronica, who had brought her a change of clothes. "I just signed your forms, and you're all set to go."

Spencer thought about mentioning that her IV had been tampered with, but what her mother didn't know wouldn't hurt her. She reluctantly got up from her hospital bed and changed into her clothes. It felt good to finally feel clean and normal.

When Spencer and Veronica were finally in the car, she decided she would just stay silent and try to survive the day.

Unfortunately, Veronica was in the mood for conversation. "How's the pain?" She asked, upon finding no other way to start the conversation.

Spencer sighed, "How do you think the pain is?"

"Right, of course it would be, painful." Veronica said, kicking herself for not thinking before she started the sentence. "I'm just worried about you Spencer. Mary being back doesn't change anything.."

"What do you mean? It changes everything!" Spencer snapped back, "Just because it doesn't affect you doesn't mean it doesn't affect me!"

"I wasn't saying it didn't. I just want things to go back to normal." Veronica tried to explain.

Spencer chuckled out an angry laugh, "Trust me. No one wants that more than me." She shook her head, "I've got more problems then you could count."

As Veronica pulled into the driveway, Spencer hopped out of the car. She grabbed her keys from her purse and got into her own car, starting the engine.

Veronica ran up to try and stop her, "You may be home from the hospital, but you are in no condition to drive."

"Yeah? Who's going to stop me." Spencer said, backing up out of the driveway. Her destination was Alison's house, once she was there and had talked to her, she could fill the rest of the girls in.

Spencer intended on getting down to the bottom of this, they had to, they didn't have a choice. They had to figure out who A.D. was, and finish the game once and for all.

Spencer came dashing into the Dilaurentis house, expecting to find Mary there, if not Alison. When she ran in she spoke, "Alison?" It was when she looked over and saw the two women sleeping on the couch that she realized she might have just ruined a moment.

She waited for a minute, and saw that she had not woken up either of the girls. She smiled at the two, wishing that they had gotten together sooner, rather than later. She had always known that they were perfect for each other, even through everything they had faced.

Upon inspecting the house, she gathered Mary had probably left so the two girls could sleep in peace. She decided to do the same, so she slipped out the door, locking it behind her as the other two had neglected to do.

Spencer debated texting Mary to ask where she was, but figured it might be an inappropriate gesture. So, she decided to go over to the Lost Woods and check there. It's the only other place besides Alison's house she had ever seen the older woman.

When she arrived, Spencer made her way over to cabin number five, the one Mary was typically in. Upon finding it locked, she pulled out her hair clip and used the sharp edge to try and pick the lock. If Mary wasn't there, she would get in and find any extra clues she could.

The door opened while she was mid-pick, and Mary stood there, looking mildly concerned. Spencer looked up sheepishly, and Mary sighed in relief, knowing her life was no longer in danger. "I really wish you would knock." She said, inviting Spencer in. "It would save me quite the panic."

Spencer sighed, realizing her habit of breaking in had to be put at bay. "I'm sorry, I was going to call but-"

"But you thought it might be awkward, asking to speak with me." Mary finished her sentence almost exactly. "I know the feeling." She finished, offering Spencer a glass of water, which she gratefully accepted.

"I came here, because I wanted to talk to you." Spencer began, unsure of how she would continue the sentence.

Mary moved to the desk she had been sitting at before Spencer had attempted her break in. Spencer noted that on it were some construction plans, she assumed were for the Lost Woods, and a Charles Dickens' book. _Great Expectations._

"You like to read as well?" Spencer spoke her thought aloud, and Mary was confused for a minute before she finally realized the girl was referring to the book on her desk. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help but notice. You might call that being inquisitive."

Mary smiled, seemingly not upset at her. "Really, it's fine. I've always been a Dickens' fan."

Spencer took a long sip of her water, "As have I. He really has some of the best classics."

"And I'm pretty sure I've read the same three at least a dozen times." Mary said chuckling to herself, "Radley's library wasn't very extensive."

Spencer nodded, as if she understood. "That must have made your time there a little easier, especially if you enjoyed it."

Mary smiled at this, "When you spend so many years alone, locked up, you learn to love whatever's around you." Mary sighed again, closing the book and putting it back on the shelf, "In reality, I took to reading because the doctors said I needed a hobby. But I had been rather smart before all of it happened, so I had no problem with that."

Spencer looked confused, "Why did you need a hobby?"

Mary sighed, understanding that Spencer had no clue what she was trying to hint at. "I needed a hobby, in order to distract myself from the constant urge to self harm."

Spencer felt horribly that all of their conversations always led to a life scarring memory of Mary's. She really didn't try to make that happen, she was just naturally curious. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to.."

Spencer decided to change the subject, this topic obviously wasn't one Mary wanted to delve into. She couldn't blame the woman, who would want to talk about their past when it was like hers was? Of course, Spencer had many questions, but resolved that today was not the day to ask them.

"The real reason I came here, was to ask you if you saw anything, or anyone, suspicious when you were leaving the hospital last night." Spencer said, peaking Mary's interest.

Mary thought to herself for a minute, "I can't think of anything that came across as suspicious."

Spencer thought about how she could reword the question without telling Mary the real reason she was asking. "Maybe anyone you recognized?" Is what she decided on finally, finding no other way to word it.

"I did see Jason, but I didn't think it peculiar because Alison told me he's taking night shifts for his hospital volunteer work." Mary explained. Spencer had a mixed reaction to this, she was happy this was a lead, but upset the lead was Jason. She knew A.D. was skilled at using the Propofol, and Jason, doing his volunteer work, would know how to use such a medication.

"Spencer? Why do you ask?" Mary said finally, breaking Spencer out of her daze of thoughts. Spencer sighed, not sure if she should tell the older woman the truth, or keep it to herself. The woman's face was almost imploring, concern in her eyes.

 _Screw it._ Spencer thought, sitting down on the bed next to her mother. "When I was released this morning, the nurse informed me that my IV had been tampered with after you left last night."

Mary broke into the conversation, "You don't think… I did it?"

Spencer stopped her as soon as she said it, "No, of course not. But whoever it was came in after you left, and I think that Jason might be a possibility."

Mary shook her head, "I don't think Jason could do that, he may have distaste towards me, but not to you."

Spencer wasn't as sure as Mary was, and she took out her phone to display the texts to the older woman. Mary scanned through them, observing that they did say the being 'knew how to use' the medication. "Since Jason is doing volunteer work, it's possible he might be able to obtain and use the medication properly." Mary expressed aloud, saying exactly what Spencer had thought just minutes before.

"Exactly, but I can't pitch this theory to Alison. She probably wouldn't speak to me for a month if I suggested it." Spencer explained, thinking of her hot-headed friend, now cousin, and how faithfully she stood by her family.

Mary smiled, thinking exactly what Spencer was thinking. "She stood by me, even after I tortured her, hurt her in such a way." She shook her head, "I don't know if I should be happy she still trusts me, or mad that she's so naive…." She thought for a moment, "Not to mention that none of you ever lock your doors."

Spencer laughed at this comment, "That day you visited me, the night Hanna went missing, you warned me about locking my door. I was terrified of you, I thought it was a threat, when in reality, it was you watching out for me."

Mary laughed, remembering how awkward the first conversation she had with her daughter was, and how well it had gone, over how it had gone with her niece. "Spencer, what does Alison think of me. Does she really trust me, or does she just say that?"

"She really does trust you, she more than trusts you, she considers you the mother she never had." Spencer's smile turned a little melancholy, "Just like she trusted Charlotte. She was convinced Rollins would help her heal."

Mary looked away, pain in her eyes at the sudden mention of her fallen daughter. "I only wish I could've met her, before.." Mary felt it unnecessary to bring up the topic of her murder again.

"I have to admit, I hated her for years." Spencer said, trying to hold back the tears in her own eyes. "She did unimaginable things to me, my friends."

Mary nodded, "I know how that must feel. And I'm sure finding out she was your sister didn't help." She was still ashamed that Spencer had to find out the way she did.

Spencer shook her head, now letting her tears fall, "It makes me wish, I had done something, to help her. That I had believed Alison when she said Charlotte was getting better."

Mary took her hand, noticing the fresh tears now. Spencer had still held onto the guilt after all this time. "Spencer, this was not your fault."

Spencer squeezed her mother's hand, letting all of the pain from the both of them melt together, "But it feels like it was."

Mary wiped her own tears, "When she, wasn't evil. Was she a good person? Was she happy?"

Spencer smiled, thinking of all the times Charlotte had helped her. "She helped me get into college. She helped the girls and I a lot, before she..."

Mary could imagine her daughters working together, being happy. Her thoughts were cut off when Spencer continued, "In a way, she reminds me of you."

Mary looked concerned for a moment, "I remind you of the person who did the worst things to you?"

Spencer immediately realized how stupid that comparison had been. "No, I mean she reminded me of you because you were both misunderstood. You both just wanted your family back." She wiped her tears, thinking back to Kenneth, and Jessica. "You both got locked up for no reason. She just wanted to be a girl, you just wanted to belong."

Mary was now crying even harder, and Spencer realized that her analysis had made things much worse. "I am so bad at this. Every conversation we've had ended in tears and bad memories."

Mary shook her head, and sniffled through sobs, "I knew you were inquisitive." This made Spencer smile, she thought back to the first time she met Mary.

Spencer couldn't stand to see Mary cry any longer, she knew she had to say something. The guilt of all the memories she must bring up every time the woman looked at her, it was too much. "I'm so sorry."

Mary sniffled, "For what? You didn't do anything."

Spencer looked away, "For whatever happened to you, I'm not sure what exactly that is yet, but I'm sorry."

Mary's tears let up a little, "It was worth it though." She confirmed, causing Spencer to look up.

"It was?" Spencer asked curiously, thinking Mary might just be saying it to make her feel less guilty.

Mary chuckled, "Of course it was. You don't know how long I've waited for this moment. How many dark nights in Radley I imagined coming back to find you."

"You found me." Spencer said, finally feeling happy about something. She realized she had been the only thing that kept Mary going all those years.

* * *

Alison woke up wrapped in Emily's arms, a feeling she had only just gotten used to. "Morning sleepyhead." She said groggily, causing Emily to stir.

"Just five more minutes." Emily groaned, pulling Alison back down and wrapping them in the blankets.

"As tempting at that sounds.." Alison began, planting a kiss on Emily's lips. "It's already eleven, we should get up."

"I have an idea." Emily began, "We lie here for five more minutes, and then we get up and go visit Spencer's barn to wish her a happy homecoming."

Alison smiled, she thought it was a fair bargain. In all honesty, she had forgotten Spencer was being released today. "Alright, deal." She said, falling back onto Emily's chest and taking in the warmth of their bodies.

Twenty minutes later, both girls were up and freshly changed. They were in the car on the way to Spencer's barn, gift basket in tow.

"Do you know when we'll get the DNA results?" Emily asked, remembering to the day before and the letter Alison hadn't been able to get off her mind.

"The doctor said it would be at least another day before it got mailed to us." Alison explained, she sighed, thinking about the A.D. mess again. "How about, we go the whole day without bringing A.D up? We just focus on making Spencer feel at home."

Emily considered this for a moment, "Okay. I like that idea, one whole day without anything to do with A.D." When they reached a red light, Emily stopped and shook Alison's hand on it.

When they arrived at the barn, they found it unlocked. Emily put out a hand to stop Alison, and entered through the door first. If this was any kind of trap, it would be her over Alison, she would make certain of it.

But they didn't find a trap, when the girls walked into the barn, they found a gift box. This wasn't just an ordinary gift box, it was a giant gift box. It was black and had red ribbon tied around it. Almost like a sick present, one they could only assume was from A.D.

"What the.." Alison moved forward, curiosity getting the better of her. She took the card out of its envelope and read the message.

 _It's Playtime Bitches_

 _-A.D._

She dropped the card onto the table, and Emily picked it up to see what she looked so concerned about. "I think we should call Spencer." Emily suggested, and Alison got out her phone to do so.

After ringing for a second or two, Spencer finally picked up the phone. "Alison?"

"Spencer, Emily and I are at your barn. I think you need to come quickly." She tried to explain without sounding too worried.

"Why? What's wrong?" Spencer asked, causing Mary to look up in concern.

Alison turned to Emily. "Let's just say... A.D. left us a gift."

Spencer's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What kind of gift?"

Emily grabbed the phone from Alison, "Spencer there is a huge ass gift box sitting on your kitchen table, you need to get here asap."

Spencer sighed, "You're telling me, A.D. broke into my barn and left us a present? You've got to be kidding me."

Emily laughed, "Boy, do I wish I was."

Spencer sighed again, "I'll be right over.. call the other girls while you're at it." She hung up the phone and turned to Mary who looked even more confused than she felt.

Emily turned to Alison with a sigh, looking warily back at the huge box she hoped didn't contain a bomb. "So much for one whole day without A.D."

* * *

"I'm sorry, I really have to go." Spencer said, shooting her mother an apologetic look. She hated leaving Mary like this at a moment's notice, but she really had no choice.

"It's fine." Mary said truthfully, "A duty calls." She thought for a moment, before rushing to her desk and pulling out an envelope.

She held it in her hand for a moment, before passing it to Spencer, who looked curiously at it. "Open this when you have time." Mary said vaguely, not offering much explanation.

"I will." Spencer promised, seeing that the envelope meant a lot to her mother.

"Stay safe, alright?" Mary said, her voice breaking a little. She hated having to say goodbye to her daughter, even if just for a little while.

Spencer could detect the emotion coming from Mary, a part of her felt the same. She turned away from the door and turned to her mother once more, "I'll be back, I promise."

"I'll be here." Mary said with a slightly happier tone of voice.

* * *

When the girls were all gathered around the giant gift box on Spencer's kitchen table an hour later, they waged their options.

"Well, we know it's from A.D. so it can't be good." Aria argued, why should they open the box? It could be a trap.

"But what happens if we don't open it? Won't we have like, consequences?" Hanna said, she was the voice of reason in the group for once.

Spencer agreed with her fully, "I'm with Hanna, we open it." Hanna turned and smiled at Spencer, for once being happy she wasn't being treated like the group idiot.

"Let's take a vote." Spencer said, "All in favor of opening the box, raise your hand."

So, slowly but surely, the hands of the girls went up. After a moment or two, Aria's was the only hand that remained at her side. They all looked at her, "You're outvoted Aria." Spencer said, "We open it."

"When we all blow up in two seconds I'll be saying 'I told you so' from beyond." Aria said, rolling her eyes when Alison scoffed.

"Don't even joke about death. It's not funny after all we've been through." Alison said, not believing that her friend was acting immature.

Spencer couldn't believe they were fighting over this, "Everyone grab a corner of the lid." Emily and Alison both grabbed onto one corner while the other three took an individual corner.

They opened it, and all looked inside at once. It was Spencer who lifted the board out of the box. She laid it out on the table, and put the cards in their designated slots.

"So A.D brought us a board game?" Alison asked, observing the surprisingly good graphics on the board and the cards.

Spencer looked in the box, and found a button that said 'Push Me'. Aria looked at her warily, not needing to voice her skepticism. Spencer pushed the button anyway, and all of the girls braced themselves.

 _Greetings Bitches!_ An all too familiar voice began out of the little box.

 _These are the instructions to our little game, so listen closely._ The liars listened closely indeed.

 _Each week, one of you will roll the dice. You will move your corresponding little liar piece the number of spaces you rolled. Depending on the space you land on, you will have a challenge to complete by the end of the week._

 _If you cheat in our little game at any point, don't think I won't find out. And if I do find out, I'll make you pay. If you fail to complete your challenge by the end of the week, you will all face consequences._

 _Now, if everyone understands the instructions, you can begin the game. Aria goes first, and no taking her turns for her._

Aria moved forward to the board reluctantly, "I really don't want to do this." She said, closing her eyes.

"You have to, we all have to, it's not our game to run." Spencer explained, "We're all going to have our week."

Aria sighed, realizing that yet again, Spencer was right. She rolled the dice, and four was the number. She picked up her little liar piece, surprisingly, it looked a lot like her.

"How do they make these little things so realistic?" Hanna asked, picking hers up and surveying its tiny little face.

Spencer hit her hand, "Hanna! Put that down!"

Hanna sighed, rubbing her hand, "Geez, just curious." She put the piece back down onto the beginning of the board.

Aria's game piece landed on a symbol that looked like an A, it corresponded with the symbol on the cards. She picked one up, "Your task is the first, it's easy enough, tell Nicole off and get your man back." She read aloud.

"Well, it could've been worse." Hanna commented, grabbing her coat and putting it on. "This has been a fun family game night, but I should really be going…"

Spencer grabbed her by the shoulder, "If that was family game night then I'm Steve Harvey." This caused Alison to chuckle, "We need to talk about this."

"Talk about what Spence? A.D. has us playing a literal board game, and I'm guessing the challenges are only going to get harder and more lethal." Emily said, looking to Alison. "I don't want any of us getting hurt, but there's nothing we can do to stop this."

"Thanks Captain Obvious." Hanna said, rolling her eyes. "If you must know, I wanted to leave because I left Caleb back at Lucas' loft an hour ago. I don't want him to get suspicious."

"Yeah, and I left Mary crying. We all feel great about the sacrifices we make for A.D." Spencer snapped back. "I'm sorry your boyfriend can't wait an hour to get in your pants." She finished, causing Hanna to shut up immediately.

The girls didn't know what to say, obviously Spencer was way past a normal emotional level. The last three days had been nothing but family drama and pain, the girls couldn't deny she was going through the most.

"I'm sorry." Spencer said, scoffing at her own actions. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, I'm just really high strung lately."

"It's okay Spence, we get it." Alison said, walking up next to her and offering her a hug. Aria joined it, followed by Hanna and Emily, before they were in one big group hug.

"You four go home, it'll be best if we all get a good night sleep." She decided after a minute or two in the group hug, "And, Aria, please talk to Nicole at some point."

As the other girls walked out, Aria turned back, "I will, I'll get my 'challenge' done. If we all play along, eventually things will get better."

Spencer pulled Aria into a hug, "You're still my favorite little." She said, burying Aria's head in her shoulder.

"And you're still my favorite big." Aria replied, finally feeling safe and happy in Spencer's arms. All of the Ezra complications had been too much to handle, but when she was with her friend, she forgot about all of her pain and troubles.

"I'll see you tomorrow Spence." Aria said finally, separating from Spencer's arms and heading towards the door.

"See you." Spencer said. These days, you could never really be sure if you would wake up to see the next day, you had to trust that fate was open to anything.

Spencer turned back to look at her kitchen table, the huge box staring at her as if it was taunting her. She wouldn't love having to stare at it for the next couple of months, but she would deal with it.

She only hoped, that with time, things might get better for them. Not just for her and her friends, but maybe for Mary too. _Mary._ That's when she remembered the letter the woman had handed her before she ran off.

She dug into her purse and found it, it was a letter all right, the envelope marked with a Radley Sanitarium stamp. It was yellow, obviously aged quite a number of years. On the front was scrawled in beautiful penmanship, 'For My Child'

Spencer already felt a twinge of pain when she ran her hand over the pen marks. She could almost feel the pain coming from Mary when she wrote it those many years ago.

Her heart ached, and she couldn't bring herself to open the envelope, not now, not at that moment. She laid down on the couch, and covered herself with the blanket she had originally kept there for decoration.

In that very moment, if only for a second, Spencer felt peace. She held the envelope close to her heart, feeling as if it was a piece of Mary with her. Tomorrow she would find out the answers she had longed for, tomorrow she would find Mary again. But now, she slept.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **A/N: Happy two weeks until PLL! I'm so excited I can barely wait.. This chapter contains trigger warnings, so I apologize for that from the beginning. I really hope I don't get too much backlash from this chapter, this is just my depiction of Mary's backstory**

 **If you're still reading this and haven't clicked off yet, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

When Spencer woke up, she found that she had slept through the night. The letter still remained in her hand, but it appeared to have moved from her chest. She also observed that she had been covered more fully, and wondered if this was the work of Veronica.

She gathered the woman must've come in to check on her, noticed the letter, and snooped where she shouldn't have. She hated that her mother had to be involved in everything she did, but was glad Veronica didn't make an effort to run off with the letter.

Spencer decided that if she didn't read it now, she might never get the strength to do so. So, with great hesitance, she took the envelope and very carefully slipped the old piece of paper out of it. She tried to steady her shaking hands as she began to read the beautiful handwriting,

 _My Child,_

 _You don't know me, but I know you. You don't know my name and I don't know yours. That doesn't matter though, you're my little girl, and nothing can ever change that._

 _You'll never know how much I really love you, how much I wish you wouldn't have been taken from me. It's too late now, you've been ripped away from me like an object to be owned and fondled. Not like the innocent child you are, not like my baby._

 _I wish things could be different, I wish you weren't conceived the way you were. I wish I could convince them that I'm truly healthy. Maybe it's the truth though, maybe I am just insane and wouldn't be fit to raise you as they told me I was._

 _I'm sorry for having to give you up_

 _I'm sorry for letting Peter win_

 _I'm sorry for losing you_

 _I know that if you're reading this now you've lived a better life without me and that I somehow got out of here and made my way back to you. So I guess it was all for the better. Whether our relationship is good or bad, I hope you can forgive me for everything._

 _Even if you never read this, if I never find my way back to you. If I die in Radley, if I die from Jessica's torture, I'll know that you're out there living a life I never could, that's all I ever wanted. Maybe one day the torture will stop, one day I'll get out, one day I'll be accepted. You, my little girl, whatever the Hastings ended up calling you, you've given me the hope I need to continue on. I won't give up, not yet, not while I know you're still out there_

 _Yours forever, even from behind these walls_

 _Your mother_

Spencer finished reading, she wiped the tears streaming down her face. She sat in silence for a moment, reading over the words again. Even though Mary hadn't known her, even though she had been ripped away from her, she still felt love for her. Mary had loved her, even though she knew she might never see her again. That feeling sat with Spencer for a while, before she decided she had to act.

She had to find Mary, she had to find her mother. She had to talk to her about everything, about what she had just read in that letter. It was time to find out the real story, the one her parents kept from her all these years. Mary would tell her the truth, she knew she could trust her to do so.

* * *

 _"No, no, please Jessica no." Mary was awake in the torture room she had grown to know too well. She felt the doctors rough hands forcing her to walk to her fate._

 _"If you would stop fighting the doctors, it would make the process much easier.." Jessica said, scoffing at Mary for her effort. She laughed as Mary continued to struggle, knowing that her effort would be unsuccessful._

 _She fought against the three men strapping her down, "As long as I am alive, I will never stop fighting you." She expressed bitterly through gritted teeth._

 _"So be it then." Jessica said, giving the doctor a nod to continue the procedure. She moved to the other side of the glass window, the one she often watched Mary through._

 _As the rods were placed on the sides of her head, Mary struggled to remember everything she could. If she remembered such valuable things such as her children, it would make them harder to forget once the shocking was over._

 _She closed her eyes as the wave of electric currents rippled through her body. She imagined her children, out in the world, living better lives. That was all she needed to go on, to survive._

* * *

Mary woke up with a scream, sweat trickling down her forehead, tears trickling down her eyes. She realized she had fallen asleep the previous night working on plans for the Lost Woods.

It was when she heard a knock at the door that she wiped her eyes and got up, hoping she was in a presentable condition.

When Mary answered the door, she could tell Spencer was shocked at the sight of her. She realized her eyes were red and puffy, obviously signs Spencer could use to infer had been crying. "Spencer?" She asked, shocked. "Sorry, I'm just not used to you knocking."

Spencer couldn't help but chuckle at the woman's humor, "I'm trying to reform my ways." She realized every visit she had paid her mother, had been one that featured scaring her to death.

Mary sighed in relief, "Well that's good." Mary opened the door wider, inviting Spencer in. The two looked at each other for a moment or two, as if seeing who would be the first to say something.

"I.. read your letter." Spencer said, taking the envelope out of her purse. She had made sure she could preserve it, not wanting to damage the old letter anymore.

Mary nodded, "I hoped you would read it, I didn't want to ask you about it, I'm not one to pry." She moved everything she had been working on off the bed and made it. "Sorry. I just woke up, I hadn't been expecting company."

"You fell asleep in your clothes?" Spencer asked, looking at the plans Mary had laid out on the desk. She didn't feel it necessary to bring up the fact she had heard Mary awake from her night terror. "Planning on renovating this old place?"

Mary nodded, "It could use some fixing, let's just say it's seen better days." She looked around at the decaying walls and horribly scratched up floors of the cabin. She had pictured how it would be remodeled in her head, just not how she would accomplish it.

"If you ever need any help, my friend Toby has a passion for building." Spencer offered, maybe a new job would be exactly what he needed to get back into the groove of things.

"Oh yes, like the house he built for you. I seem to recall him telling me all about that when I went to buy it." Mary said nonchalantly, now putting the plans back in her purse.

"Hold on. What?" Spencer said in confusion, "How did you find out about the house?" As far as she knew, that project was Toby's best kept secret.

Mary turned to look at her now, "Well when I found out he was leaving I didn't exactly have a place to stay. So I figured I'd buy it off him and turn it into my home." She explained this as if it was the most common thing. "When he finally went to move back in a couple of days ago, he offered to buy it back, but I just gave it. He also told me about how he originally built it for you, thinking he'd earn extra points in my book."

Spencer rolled her eyes at the thought of Toby trying to earn brownie points with Mary, "So he did move back in…"

Mary couldn't help but laugh, "Haven't you been over to see him yet?"

Spencer shook her head, "No. Unfortunately A.D. has been keeping me preoccupied." She explained rolling her eyes again.

"It's obvious you two are still in love with each other, and honestly I can't believe I'm the one that has to point this out to you considering I've known you two for a week." Mary said, scoffing at their foolishness. "I get the wounds are still fresh with his dead wife and all, but honestly, you should go get your man."

Spencer was taken aback at Mary's bold statement, so taken aback, that she had forgotten the original reason she had come. "While I do plan on following that advice.." Spencer began, "That wasn't the reason I came here in the first place." She didn't want to seem too forward, but she also didn't want to dance around the topic.

Mary raised her eyebrows, "Why did you come?"

"I just…" She started, and saw the look of fear in Mary's eyes for a split second. The woman had never been spoken to kindly, so whenever someone did speak, she always was ready. "I can't imagine, what you've been through. But I want to try, I want to learn about my past, your past, our past." She corrected herself finally.

"You… you do?" Mary said in disbelief. She now really looked at her daughter, before she had been too ashamed. She knew Spencer would be curious, but not that she actually cared.

"I do. I want to get to know you." Spencer said truthfully. That's all Mary ever wanted, someone to tell her the truth. She appreciated it, and thought about it for a moment.

"You know it's going to be… gruesome." Mary began, unsure if Spencer really knew what she was getting herself into. "It's not a story I usually enjoy sharing."

"I know. But I feel like I need to know, in order to really understand." Spencer said, she moved to stand next to her mother now, "I'm ready for the whole story."

"And I think I'm ready to tell it. But in all honesty, I think I'd rather do it with you and Alison both at once." Mary explained, she hoped Spencer could understand her reasoning.

"You don't want to tell the story twice. I get that." Spencer said, realizing this wasn't just her story to hear. It was as much Alison's past as it was hers.

"Exactly." Mary said.

"Well, let's go pay Alison a visit then, shall we?" Spencer offered, tossing her car keys to Mary.

"Sounds like a plan, and on the way you can tell me all about Toby." Mary responded, smiling as Spencer's cheeks turned bright red.

* * *

Emily had just finished cooking the two of them breakfast, when Alison had come in with the mail. She was glad that through all of this mess, she could still enjoy moments like these. Mary had agreed with Alison that she would stay at the Lost Woods for the time being so that she and Emily could have some time alone. She was grateful that her aunt was so understanding when it came to her wanting some time with her girlfriend.

"Breakfast is served." Emily said with a huge smile as Alison sat down at the table. She gratefully accepted the plate from the girl. Emily stood there however, "Read the apron." She said with her still huge, mischievous smile.

Alison did, the apron read, _Kiss the Cook_. "Is this the payment for breakfast?" She laughed, and pecked Emily on the lips.

"What? That's it?" Emily said, feeling as if she was cheated out of the kiss.

"Fine. If you're going to be picky." Alison said, talking in a tone of voice that reminded Emily of how her mother might sound. She realized in that moment, Alison would be a wonderful mother.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Alison's lips came crashing into hers. "Is that better?"

"Much." Emily said, placing the plate of eggs down in front of Alison. She took her own plate and joined the girl at the breakfast table.

Alison threw the mail towards Emily. "Your turn to open it." They often took turns because most of the mail consisted of bills Alison couldn't pay, and junk.

"Ali…" she began, looking at the envelope more closely. "Alison it's here!" She nearly jumped out of her seat in excitement.

"What?" Alison said in confusion, reaching for the envelope, "What is it?"

"The DNA results! From the hospital!" At this Alison tore the envelope out of Emily's hand and read it herself.

She got up out of her seat and moved into the living room at lightning speed. Emily ran after her, "Ali where are you going?"

Alison came back from the bathroom with a box of tissues, "I'm going to need these." She said waving the tissues in the air. She threw them to Emily, who caught them and put them on the coffee table.

Her fingers began shaking as she moved to open the envelope, but she stopped herself.

"What are you waiting for?" Emily nearly shouted, anticipation getting the better of her, "Open it!"

Alison looked away, not sure what to say. "I'm scared Em. What if it's not…"

"Mine?" Emily finished her sentence, "It being Archer's isn't going to change the fact that I'll love it as much as I love you." She said, pulling Alison into a hug.

Alison stayed in her arms for a moment before making the executive decision to open the letter. She ripped it open and pulled the letter out, she began scanning it.

"Alison the anticipation is killing me.." Emily warned, feeling like she could burst at any second.

"Emily.." she began, "We're having a baby!" She shouted, it took them both a minute to realize what this meant.

"We're having a baby?" Emily asked in disbelief, a huge smile forming on her face. She picked Alison up and spun her around off her feet.

"We're having a baby!" Alison squealed in delight. Emily put Alison back onto the ground and they both took a sigh of relief.

"I want to see it. I still can't believe.." Alison happily handed Emily the letter and she read it to herself.

A look of confusion dawned on Emily, and Alison grew concerned. "Em? What is it?" Emily didn't respond but kept reading the letter. "Em? You're making me nervous, what is it?"

Emily turned to Alison with concern, her smile faded. "Alison, we're not having a baby.."

Alison didn't understand, she felt tears forming in her eyes. "What do you mean? It's not yours? Did I.. did I read it wrong?" Panic set in and she feared the worst.

Emily continued, shaking her head at Alison's worry, "No, no, you read it right. We're not having one baby, because we're having two babies!"

Alison's eyes widened, shock filled her face. She looked from Emily down to her stomach before looking back up. "We're having two babies?"

Emily handed her the letter back, pointing out the words, " _In the case of the second child of Alison Dilaurentis_."

Alison pulled her lips into Emily's. Not only were they going to be mothers, they were going to be mothers of twins. She felt truly happy for once, she was going to bring two beautiful children into the world.

"We're having two babies.." Emily said aloud again, spinning Alison off the ground once more.

"We're having two babies!" Alison confirmed, laughing and smiling as wide as she ever had. And Emily screamed along with her. It felt like old times again, when they had gotten excited with each other.

"We're not just having any two babies! Alison we're having twins!" Emily realized finally, she should've figured considering twins ran in the Dilaurentis family.

The two embraced each other again, and both were crying. "I couldn't ask for a better mother of my two babies." Alison said, searching for the tissues she had brought out earlier.

"Stop. You're going to make me cry if you start." Emily said, putting her head on Alison's shoulder.

"I'm just so happy! We're having twins!" Alison said, smiling wider than Emily had ever seen her.

"Let us be the first to congratulate you!" Spencer said, walking in arm and arm with Mary. She seemed more excited about the revelation then upset she hadn't been informed.

"I knew you were having one, but two was quite the twist." Mary said, grinning ear to ear.

"How long have you two been standing there?" Emily asked, embarrassed that she hadn't noticed.

"Since the first 'We're having a baby!' Though we did get concerned there for a minute." Spencer stated, still grinning.

"I made her stop from bursting in, didn't want to ruin the moment." Mary explained proudly.

"No. You didn't ruin the moment, now you can celebrate it with us!" Alison exclaimed, bringing the two in from the door frame.

"I'm so proud of you two!" Spencer exclaimed cheerfully and embraced Alison. She was so happy for her cousin, but sad she would have to ruin the moment with the reason they had come.

Emily and Mary watched the two embrace, both smiling at the beautiful friendship all this mess had created. "What the hell." Emily expressed out loud before pulling Mary into a hug.

When the hugging finally ceased, it was Alison who spoke. "Why did you two decide to visit us anyway?"

Mary sighed, knowing she would have to be the one to spoil the mood. "Spencer and I are both ready to have a heart to heart, but we wanted you to be with us."

"By heart to heart she means she's ready to share her story." Spencer explained, jumping in as to not confuse Alison.

"Well I'm glad you two didn't forget about me." Alison said, half joking half serious. She offered the two a seat on the couch.

"Well. I think I'm going to go home and get my day started." Emily said, not wanting to get in the way of their discussion. "I'll catch up with you later Alison!" Emily said, still overjoyed.

"You too." Alison said, before thinking some more. "Remember Emily, you can't tell Pam until I'm with you."

"I promise." Emily said, throwing her hands in the air, "my lips are sealed." After she was finally out the door the three women settled down.

"That goes for you too Spencer." Alison said, initiating her cousin into the family secret, "None of the other girls can know, not yet."

Spencer nodded, "Whatever happens in the Dilaurentis house, stays in the Dilaurentis house." She looked to her mother, "That goes for this conversation too, if you want us to not discuss it after this, we won't."

"How you want to process the information I tell you, is up to you." Mary said, not willing to give them a definite answer. She knew they would both react differently, but hoped things might work out in the end.

"To tell the truth, I don't know where to begin." Mary said, closing her eyes, feeling the pain of the moments she was sorting through in her head. She hated having to burden Spencer with all of this.

"How was I born, I mean, who's my father?" Spencer asked. That was the question she really wanted to know, the one she had on her mind for awhile.

Mary looked away, almost ashamed. "Are you sure… you really want to know this?"

Spencer wasn't sure if the answer should be yes or no. It seemed like Mary wanted nothing more than to forget any of it ever happened. "I'm ready." She said, grabbing her mother's hand. "I just want to make sure you're ready."

Alison spoke up, "I think both of our main concerns is that you're comfortable. As long as you're willing to go on, so are we." She took Mary's other hand, and suddenly, the woman felt regret.

Mary looked at the two, tears already in her eyes. "I don't think I'll ever be ready, but that doesn't change the fact that this conversation needs to happen." She explained, it was time that Alison and Spencer found out everything, she knew they deserved the truth.

"Peter.. He is your father." Spencer nodded, figuring this much. Why else would they adopt her? "But.." Mary looked away from Spencer, not being able to say it to her face., "He didn't have you with me because he loved me."

Spencer's eyebrows furrowed, "What do you mean?" She had expected some huge love triangle-affair scandal. Some sort of Hatfields and Mccoys family backstory between the Dilaurentis' and the Hastings.

Mary desperately tried to wipe the stream of tears coming down her face. How could she possibly tell her daughter the truth? "One night, he snuck into my room, it was after hours. I knew he meant trouble, I just didn't know what kind of trouble exactly." Mary closed her eyes, but tears still managed to fall out of them. "When he started to advance on me, I screamed out, hoping that someone, anyone would hear me. No one did, or maybe they did, and just ignored it."

She put her head in her hands, "I tried to fight, it was no use. He was stronger than me, I was young, and weak. Eventually I had to give up, no one cared about the baby murderer being molested. In their eyes, it was what I deserved." She sighed, "Part of me agreed."

"No." Alison broke into her story. "You did not deserve that." She hated to even think that her aunt felt that way. No one deserved to feel that much hatred towards themselves.

"The worst part? I trusted him. I was friends with him when we were kids, when he joined the

Radley board he told me he was going to try and help me. I believed him, and I thought that maybe he was my ticket out. How could I have been so foolish?" Mary finished, shaking her head.

Spencer didn't know what to say, what to do. She was feeling so many emotions at once that she wasn't sure which one to go with.

Mary nodded, understanding her loss for words. She still wasn't able to make eye contact, "He raped me, impregnated me, and then when I gave birth to you, he took you. He made sure I would never get out, so I could never tell anyone the truth." Mary's tone changed, it got weaker, and more tears rolled down her face. "It was _my_ fault he raped _me_ , this would damage _his_ political career if it ever got out. No one ever cared what affect it left on me, it was _his_ life that they cared about. So no one could know that he knocked up the lady in the nut house." She choked out the last sentence before bursting into sobs.

Spencer still wasn't sure how to express what she was feeling. Part of her couldn't believe that this was true, but the other part of her knew Mary wouldn't lie. "I can't believe…"

Alison interrupted her, "I'll kill him. Next time he comes into this town, I'll kill him, for what he did to you." She said, her face turning red with anger.

"Please. Alison please. He can't know that I'm back." Mary begged her niece now, fear in her bright blue eyes.

Spencer came to the horrible realization that Mary had been used, abused, and thrown out. She had been violated in such a way, by someone she herself had always held in such high esteem. Her father was a truly horrible, vile, man. One that she would kill had she a chance.

Mary looked again at her family, wishing they hadn't reacted the way they did. She hated to see either one of them looking, angry, afraid, in pain. "I'm so sorry." She sobbed out.

"No, no. You shouldn't be sorry." Alison said, turning to her and squeezing her shaking hand. "You didn't do anything."

"But I did. If I had made better choices, maybe.." Mary was cut off by Spencer.

"No. None of this, none of anything, happened because of the choices you made. They happened because you were abused, and violated, by a man you thought you knew, that you thought you could trust." Spencer said, trying to convince the older woman she wasn't at fault. She felt tears streaming down her own face now.

Spencer had another horrible realization, Mary never had anyone. She had no love, no support, from anyone. She had truly been alone, all those years, she had been alone. No one cared if she lived or died, who did what to her.

"We care. We're here." Spencer said, she felt the urge to hug her mother, but decided against it. She wasn't sure if the woman was in any emotional state to be comforted.

"And as long as we're here, you never have to be alone again." Alison promised, she knew there had to be more to the story. The comforting words seem to have a positive effect on the woman.

"Is there anything else we should know?" Spencer asked cautiously, not really wanting the answer.

"Jessica." Mary sniffled, "She was in on it too. The torture wasn't just her idea." The woman shuddered as all of the memories of her days strapped down to a metal table came back to her.

Alison sat up and looked her aunt in the eyes, "Torture?" She couldn't believe that this story went any further, or more horrible, than it already had.

Mary closed her eyes, preparing to continue her story. "Once you were taken, I slipped into a deep depression. I would get so enraged some days that I would threaten to expose Peter. Eventually, Jessica and Peter found a way to keep me quiet."

Spencer was scared to ask, "What did they do to you?"

Mary wiped her tears, trying to remain calm, "Electroshock therapy. Together, they convinced the doctors I needed it, and Jessica signed off for it. They came to an agreement, the two of them. I would stay in Radley for the rest of my life, fried until my brain was nothing but a vessel in my head."

Spencer swore under her breath. Peter and Jessica, a match made in hell. If Jessica wasn't dead already, she would've found her and killed her. Peter was her next best option.

"It wasn't just the torture itself that really hurt, it was the fact that she enjoyed it." Mary explained, shuddering at the thought.

Alison looked horrified, she knew her mother had been truly sick, but not this horrible. "What do you mean, she enjoyed it?" She couldn't even fathom what Mary meant.

"She would watch, watch my sessions. And she would laugh, every shock that was administered, she would laugh." Mary shook her head, "It was at that point, I realized the sister I once knew, she was really gone."

"Peter and Veronica agreed on the deal. They would raise you, no questions asked. They would pretend you were theirs, and in return, Jessica promised I would never be released. Just like that, every piece of evidence that I existed, was destroyed, erased, hidden. I became the family secret, not only that, but.." she stopped herself.

"You can tell us." Spencer said, trying to make this as easy as possible for her.

"The doctors would pay Jessica… for access to my room." It was at that point, Mary could bear it no longer. She broke down in sobs. "I thought I was ready, but I really.. really wasn't."

"I guess that was my karma, for trusting people. Veronica was right about one thing, Karma's a bitch." Mary spat, now curling up into a ball and letting her tears fall freely.

"My god." Alison muttered to herself, she felt disgust, and anger. Everything she thought she knew, she never really did. Jessica, and the Hastings, were truly sick and horrible people. She realized how damaged Mary really was by this, why she was so skeptical of everyone. People saw her as crazy, dark, but she really wasn't, she was misunderstood.

"I shouldn't of told you. Their going to hurt all of us now, I never should've.." Mary broke into sobs, unwilling to continue. She knew the wrath of Veronica and Peter, especially Peter. It wasn't safe, and she knew telling them the truth was a risk.

Spencer grabbed her mother by the shoulders, "Look at me." She commanded. Mary looked at Spencer with more pain than she had ever seen. Pain, fear, sadness, it all blended together at some point. "No one is going to hurt you anymore, I'll make sure of it. As long as I'm here, no one will ever touch you again."

"I will personally make certain that neither Peter nor Veronica never step within ten feet of you." Alison said, still finding some rage buried in her. "You didn't deserve anything of what you went through, so stop telling yourself you did."

Mary looked at her family for a moment, she felt a great gratitude towards the girls. "You don't know, how much those words truly mean to me. No one's ever cared.. what happens to me." She tried to explain through her tears.

Spencer impulsively pulled Mary into her arms. Alison joined in, hugging the woman from the other side. They both held the shaking woman tightly, letting her sob out all of her grief.

Neither of the girls could imagine what she'd been through, which made it harder for them to comfort her. They understood now that their parents were worse than they originally imagined, almost an unbelievable amount.

The only thing left to do now, protect the woman that meant so much to them, while protecting themselves. A difficult, but feasible, task. And one they would be willing to take on.

Because as they sat there that day, holding a sobbing Mary, Spencer and Alison both communicated one thought. _As long as they had each other, nothing was impossible._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry for the long wait, but this is my second time rewriting this because it all got deleted the first time I wrote it. Anyway.. it's updated now so if you enjoy leave a review!**

A week later, Spencer found herself just waking up in her bedroom, in the place she had called home for so long. After new revelations though, she almost couldn't stand to call it that. Her whole life had been based off one lie, that one lie, being a person.

A person who deserved so much better than what she had gotten. And multiple people, three of them to be exact, who hadn't gotten what they deserved.

Spencer hadn't talked to her mother, Veronica that is, since she had last talked to Mary that week ago. In fact, Spencer had taken to locking herself in her room, not leaving for hours on end.

Truthfully, Mary's story had stayed with her. It planted itself deep in her mind, making sure it's haunting premise wouldn't be forgotten during her sleepless nights. She didn't blame Mary for it though, the woman had no idea what affect it might have on her.

When she did finally decide to leave the confides of her room, Veronica was always there waiting, waiting for a conversation that would never happen. Because every time Spencer saw the woman, her stomach would turn in disgust.

Just thinking about how Veronica had kept Peter's unthinkable actions hidden was enough to make her sick. How could her mother have done that with no guilty conscience? Had her hatred for Mary extended as far as that? And if so, why had she taken Spencer?

These were questions she wanted answered, but not now, not until she could look her mother straight in the eye without a notion of sickness.

After the third day of hiding out in her so called 'home,' Spencer decided that she would go over and see if Alison was feeling the same. Surely finding out her mother was capable of such evil left some sort of emotion with her.

She had almost slipped out the door when she was stopped by Veronica, "Spencer.. where are you going?" The woman asked, concern laced in her words.

Of course, Veronica was aware that Spencer had stopped talking to her intentionally, but wasn't sure of the reason. She assumed it had something to do with what had gone down between them before.

"Alison's house.. figured I'd check up on her." Is what Spencer decided on finally, trying to make the conversation as short lived as possible.

She turned toward the door as Veronica reached her hand out to stop her. Spencer turned, and Veronica sighed, "Why don't you just talk to me? What have I done to you?"

Spencer chuckled aloud, the woman didn't know what she had done. It must've been so long that she had forgotten about her immoral lies and deceit. "It's not a question of what you did to me, it's a question of what you did to her." Spencer said with a cold and raw voice. She found herself content with the answer and left her mother standing in silence.

* * *

When she found herself on Alison's doorstep, with no answer to her multiple attempts at ringing the doorbell, Spencer figured she might not be home.

She turned to leave however, and heard a small sound. Almost as if a tiny mouse was squeaking somewhere within the bellows of the gigantic house. She made the executive decision to walk in, finding the door unlocked. She would've picked the lock had she the need.

What Spencer found though, after searching a couple of rooms, was not a mouse, but Alison. The young girl was crying in her kitchen, huddled over, of all things, a calendar. It appeared Emily was not with her, and she had no support system, so Spencer went and sat down next to her.

Alison jumped upon noticing Spencer's presence, and immediately tried to wipe her tears and hide the calendar.

Spencer noticed her apprehension, "Alison.. what's wrong?" She asked, putting her cousin's hair behind her ear and wiping a single tear falling down her face.

"Nothing... I'm just being overly emotional.. that's all." Alison said finally. The tone she used scared Spencer, it sounded just like something old Alison would say. The Alison that was scared to feel things, that was still completely under Jessica's control and not that of her own.

"There's no such thing as being overly emotional.. remember what I told you?" Spencer asked, looking to her friend who seemed like the last thing she wanted was a lecture, but knew it was for her own good.

"You said, ' _Emotions are meant to be felt'_ " Alison said with a sigh, realizing that she had reverted back to her old frame of mind, if only for a moment.

"That's right.." Spencer began, thinking back to the calendar for a minute. "Are you going to tell me what's bothering you now?"

Alison didn't say anything, she simply nodded and reluctantly passed Spencer the calendar she had been clutching onto, like a child clutching to a beloved stuffed animal.

Spencer scanned the calendar for a while, going through the days of December until she finally found the current date. She stared at it, long and hard, for a moment or two. December 18.. what was so important about December 18?

That's when it hit her. It hit her like a semi truck barreling down the freeway right into her. December 18 is.. was.. Jessica's birthday. Today was Jessica's birthday, the sixth one Alison would've had without her.

"Oh Alison..." Spencer began, looking to her friend who was too ashamed to make eye contact. She simply pulled the younger woman into her arms, and let her tears openly flow. Spencer couldn't imagine how horribly long and difficult the grieving process had been for her friend.

It was then that she realized, Alison hadn't gone through the grieving process until then. She and Emily hadn't worked it into Alison's head that emotions were meant to be felt, until they had come back. Damn Jessica, and her stupid brainwashing tactics. It was her that had stalled the long awaited grieving process for Alison.

"I just.. I hadn't thought about her birthday for years." Alison began, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her sweater. "We never did anything special for it.. but I honestly had forgotten about the day entirely until Mary came back..." she trailed off, all of a sudden remembering her mother's twin sister.

Spencer realized it now too, Jessica and Mary have the same birthday. Which means that Mary's birthday was today, which meant she was probably crying by herself somewhere as well.

"I wonder why she didn't bring up her birthday?" Alison wondered aloud, and Spencer couldn't help but roll her eyes. She realized Alison hadn't gathered that Mary wouldn't want anyone making a fuss over her.

"She probably didn't want to upset you." Is what Spencer said finally, deciding to not go the sarcastic route while Alison was already upset.

"Maybe she didn't want to make a big deal of it either.." Alison thought about this for a moment, "Maybe we should go over there..."

Spencer shot that idea down immediately, "You're not in any condition to go anywhere. You stay here and do what you need to do, and I'll go get a gift for Mary."

Alison looked at her curiously, "What are you planning on getting her?"

"I have a few ideas." Spencer said finally. She left a kiss on Alison's forehead, "I'll be back later, stay safe." Spencer said before running out the door, mentally noting to lock it.

"You too." Alison said with a sigh.

* * *

Mary was sitting alone in her usual Lost Woods cabin, thinking to herself about this day and how it had gone down in all the years past. Very rarely, could she remember a good birthday she had.

She made sure no one would know this year, she would sit back, have a drink, drown herself in her sorrows. Her birthday had never been a good thing, and now that Jessica was dead...

Now that Jessica was dead... she hated to admit it, but she felt a sort of sadness. She knew she shouldn't feel that way, not for the sister who did such horrible things to her, but she did. She mourned for her sister, more than she mourned for any lost birthdays.

Birthdays had always just been a number, in Radley they meant a year closer to death, to ending all the suffering and misery. But this is the first one that came about, that she knew her sister was dead. Why did it feel different? Why did her heart hurt knowing the bitch got exactly what she deserved?

It was when she got a knock at the door, that she looked up. Spencer would've either burst in, or picked the lock. Alison would've called her first or waited for her to come home. So who was knocking?

"Whoever you are, go away." Mary said finally, she didn't feel like any surprise visitors or guests on a day like today.

A knock sounded again, "Mary, it's Veronica, open up.. please." The voice was shaky, almost as if the woman was feeling nervous. Mary's heart skipped a beat, she felt as if her heart might jump out of her chest. It seemed she always felt this way when she saw or heard Veronica. Why did she allow the woman to have such control over her after all these years?

When she did open the door, she found Veronica standing there, doing her best to look stately and composed. Compared to herself, a heaping mess of anxiety and tears. Mary suddenly felt the urge to close the door on Veronica and never turn back.

"You couldn't give me one day.. one day without giving me shit.. especially today." Mary said with a sigh, "One day for me to grieve to myself, and here you are."

Veronica looked genuinely surprised, "What's so special about today?" She paused, looking back at Mary, "and who said I was here to give you shit?"

"I don't know, that seems to be how our conversations go nowadays." Mary said completely serious, although it sounded a little sarcastic. "And if you must know, today was.. is.. was.. the birthday I shared with my sister."

Veronica seemed to understand now. The woman had been trying to grieve the loss of her sister. But why was she, if she thought so horribly of her? Mary's mind was something the woman would never understand.

"I'm here to apologize." Veronica said, now breaking out of her train of thought. It's funny how Jessica still seemed to linger in her mind, even though she was long gone.

Mary looked taken aback, "Apologize? I'm sorry but I wouldn't believe that if you actually meant it." The woman laughed aloud to herself thinking about the concept. Veronica apologizing? Never.

"I'm sorry. I'm not really sure for what, but I am sorry." Veronica said, actually trying to sound sincere. The woman might be insane, but she was still a human being.

"What do you mean, 'I'm not really sure for what'?" Mary asked, this seemed like a bullshit apology if she'd ever heard one.

"Look. Spencer hasn't talked to me in a week, and she said I did something to you to cause it." Veronica tried to explain this to Mary as delicately as possible.

"So you aren't actually here to apologize... you're here so Spencer will forgive you again." Mary gathered, she knew Veronica too well, she could see right through her. She never did anything for anyone without getting something in return.

"What did I do to you? Honestly, and truly, why are you so shallow to me?" Veronica asked, feeling bitter towards Mary for turning this conversation this way.

"Really? Do you want me to write you a list, or do you actually have time to sit down and talk to the resident crazy woman?" Mary asked. She was no fool, she knew what Veronica thought of her, just by the way she looked at her. She saw the look from random strangers on the street, sometimes even people she knew, it was a familiarity.

"So this is about me calling you names... we're back in high school now?" Veronica asked, pettiness radiating through.

"It must be nice, knowing what high school was like." Mary said, a tear running down her cheek subconsciously. "Would've liked to experience that, instead I got to experience an insane asylum."

"So now you're blaming your Radley experience on me.. it's about how I ruined your life." Veronica was still trying to wrap her head around things.

"It's not about that!" Mary yelled in spite of herself. Veronica jumped, stepping back a few steps. Mary realized it now, "You're afraid of me..."

"I am not... I am not afraid of you." Veronica stated boldly, yet she still couldn't say it without a quiver to her voice. She wasn't sure what terrified her more, Mary herself, or the fact that she still felt something for Mary.

"Then why can't you look me in the eyes? Why can't you speak to me without your voice quivering?" Mary asked her, snaking around her to sit on the bed.

"You're shaking even now as I walk past you, because you think I'm insane, because you don't think I should be trusted."

"Mary we've been through too much to do this now... I didn't come back here to relive my mistakes." Veronica explained, she didn't find pride in trying to open up her past memories of Mary.

Mary scoffed at the audacity of the woman. Coming on her birthday, knocking on her door, simply because she needed answers? "So now I'm a mistake to you? Let me know how getting those answers works out for you." Mary said bitterly.

"Mary, I didn't mean that." Veronica tried to explain, she realized how it had sounded. She hadn't regretted her relationship with Mary, she hadn't regretted knowing Mary, she regretted how it turned out for both of them.

"Yeah, I bet you didn't." Mary said, wiping her tears. "No one ever does." She sighed again, "Date the crazy Dilaurentis girl and your reputation is ruined.. until she gets shipped off to Radley. Then she's gone, the mistake you never made."

"Mary, stop, don't do this to yourself." Veronica said, she hated to think that the woman still held onto those emotions from so long ago. Mary always had a gift for self deprecation.

"You want to know why Spencer is so mad at you? You really want to know what you did? I'll tell you." She said bitterly, standing up now and wiping her tears. She looked at Veronica's face now, and no longer felt a skip of the heart, she felt hatred and disgust.

"Spencer's mad because you helped hide Peter's lies, his unthinkable actions! I don't care how much you hated me.. helping that scum of the earth get away with my rape is something I'll never forgive you for!" She was sobbing now.

"Mary.. I didn't.. I didn't know.. he never told me." Veronica tried to explain in shock, but it was useless. How could she explain that Peter hadn't told her either, that he had lied to her too? She could kill her ex husband for this. No wonder the woman wouldn't listen, she thought Veronica was a monster, just like Peter.

"Even if I did believe that, after everything that's been said and done, it wouldn't matter." Mary said, feeling her tears threatening to spill out.

"Why won't you believe me? Why can't you believe a word I say?" Veronica said, clearly frustrated now at Mary's actions. If only she would listen, things would be different if she could just explain...

"Because I loved you, Veronica. And I trusted you, and in return for that trust, you married my rapist, and took my child from me." Mary said, breaking the eye contact she had held with Veronica for a while. She didn't care anymore what Veronica thought of her. She knew she needed to tell her the truth, "Even though our relationship had been short lived, you were the only love I ever knew, and you betrayed me." She sobbed into her coat now, "What you did to me, was break my heart. There's the answer to your question, I hope you're happy."

"Mary, please, I didn't want it to turn out like this.." Veronica tried to display her emotions, to muster out any form of the real truth. She couldn't though, her mind, and mouth wouldn't allow it.

"I get it. At least you got the answer to your question." Mary said, grabbing her coat putting it on. "You can stay here, maybe crack open the wine, have one in my honor, happy birthday to me!" She said with much sarcasm and bitterness as she stormed out of her own cabin.

Veronica thought about calling out to her, saying something, anything, but she didn't. What use would it be? The woman was already upset about her birthday and her sister, these emotions were just the icing on the cake.

She didn't know what to do now. Mary hadn't left a key for her to lock up the cabin, and she also didn't mention where she kept the bottle opener. So, she decided she would do some thinking while she had the chance.

* * *

"Oh mom." An hour later Alison found herself in the Rosewood Cemetery, in front of her mother's grave. Her breath hitched as she drew closer to it, and ran her finger over the engraved letters. Jessica Dilaurentis - Loving Mother and Wife

Loving wasn't the adjective Alison would've chosen to be on the grave, but that was all her father's decision. Her father, Kenneth, the piece of scum that left her by herself. The one that had hurt her in such a way, he was gone, and so was her mother, and her brother.

Alison couldn't think of any real family she ever had, family that really loved her. Sure, Jason had his moments. But he was never really there, he just showed up for a day so he could say he made an effort. Even when she was trapped in Welby, Jason didn't come back to get her out.

Jessica was different, Alison had her doubts sometimes, but at least her mother was always there. She sat down next to the grave, one she hadn't been so brave as to visit any previous times before. During those five years in Rosewood she couldn't bring herself to it, she couldn't bear to see what the grave looked like. She thought, maybe if she didn't have an image of it in her mind, it wasn't there at all.

When she came back to find her mother dead, Alison didn't think it was real. She imagined that one day she would wake up to Jessica's bickering, or, one day she would walk back in that door, and throw her a homecoming she never had.

Instead she had gotten Mary, a twin, possibly a nicer version. It just wasn't the same. She loved her aunt, but she wasn't like Jessica at all, she wasn't cold-hearted, didn't have a violent bone in her body. As she sat at her mother's grave she realized she hadn't actually said anything out loud.

When she tried however, she found that she couldn't say anything out loud. Her mouth had been stuck shut by grief and sorrow. All she could do was look at the grave and cry. "Why did you have to leave me?" She muttered softly, through sobs. "You left me in the ground, you left me to live my life alone.."

"Did you know Jason and Dad are deadbeats? Did you know they would hit me when you weren't around? Did you know that they ran and left me in this town as soon as they possibly could?" Alison was past the point of trying to wipe her tears, she didn't think anyone in the cemetery would mind.

"If only I had told you about A, about the game, about Dad and Jason, maybe you would've done something, maybe you wouldn't be dead." Alison said, realizing that so many things could've been different. She could've come home sooner, talked to her mother, and maybe she wouldn't have come home to see her in a body bag.

What Alison had neglected to notice the whole time she was ranting on to her mother's grave, was that Mary had also come to visit her sister. Upon seeing Alison however, Mary stepped back and gave the girl her moment, overhearing everything her niece said.

"I know you were looking for me, I saw all of it in Aunt Carol's storm cellar. I saw all the pictures of me, the candles. You felt horrible about burying me alive didn't you?" Alison said, hoping that maybe when she went missing, her mother still cared about her. If Jessica really was looking for her, that meant she cared.

"It's hard to really know if you loved me, when I've experienced so much that tells me otherwise." Alison said, now bowing her head at Jessica's grave. "I'm going to find who murdered you, and I'm going to get justice for you."

After a few moments of silent sobs from Alison, Mary stepped forward and sat down next to her. Alison looked at her, thinking for a moment, realizing her face was stained with tears as well. Mary wrapped her arm around Alison's shoulder, and Alison leaned into the embrace.

"Personally, I wouldn't have chosen the word Loving, but to each their own." Mary said somberly, causing Alison to laugh because she had the same thought earlier.

"How long have you been here?" Alison asked, embarrassed at the sight of her own mourning.

"Not long, but long enough to know I dislike Jason even more than I already did." Mary replied shortly, not wanting to linger on the topic anymore.

"I'm just.. surprised.. to see you here I mean." Alison said. She didn't imagine Mary coming to Jessica's grave, ever.

"Well, I figured crying by myself at the Lost Woods wasn't going to do me any good, I should at least cry at her grave and appear to be normal." Mary lied about her reasoning, she would've stayed at the Lost Woods if not for Veronica.

"You mean you…"

"Miss her? Yes, I do miss her. Despite everything, she was my sister. I can't stand the thought of my sister being murdered in cold blood, even though she deserved it." Mary explained, wiping her tears.

"It's hard.. knowing she's gone." Alison began, it was hard trying to explain how she felt. "She was horrible, but at least she loved me. At least I think she loved me, she never made it too obvious."

Mary thought about this for a moment, "I think Jessica loved you, in her own way." Mary tried to explain. "Jessica had funny ways of showing she cared, sometimes she cared but not enough to show it."

"Did she.. I mean, do you think she ever cared about you?" Alison asked her sheepishly, feeling strongly that the answer might be a no. She wasn't really sure why she asked if part of her already knew the answer.

"When we were children… she cared about me then." Mary started, thinking back to better moments of her childhood. "She would always watch out for me in school, and with our parents." She looked at the grave again, her sisters final resting place. "Maybe if she would've stayed as innocent as she was back then, we could still be here, all together."

Alison didn't say anything to this, she just leaned her head on Mary's shoulder and let her tears fall freely now. Mary did the same, feeling like she could finally openly grieve. Both women missed Jessica, both for similar reasons.

They had each other, and that was all they needed to survive.

"Hey Aunt Mary.." Alison began, not so much asking a question as making a statement.

"Yes?" Mary asked her, looking next to her and wiping her tears.

"Happy Birthday." Alison said with a smile, and Mary turned with surprise and hugged her.

* * *

When Spencer made her way back to the Lost Woods, she moved to open the door of cabin number five, and found it unlocked.

That was the first sign that something was wrong, Mary never kept her doors unlocked, and lectured the girl to do the same. So when Spencer set foot in the cabin, she was surprised to see her mother there, crying.

Not the mother she expected however, not Mary, but Veronica. She was taken aback immediately, to see Veronica in the cabin, and without Mary there.

"What are you doing here?" Spencer almost shouted. For some odd reason, she always considered the cabin a private spot for she and Mary. Seeing Veronica there felt like an invasion of privacy.

"What are you doing here?" Veronica questioned, looking up at her daughter. She noticed the look on the girl's face, and realized she was not in the mood for conversation.

"I'm dropping off a birthday present for Mary…" Spencer said, indicating to the box in her hand, before putting it onto the desk. "...and unlike you, I'm usually welcome here."

Veronica didn't appreciate the slight dig, but she had recovered quickly from her tears. She wasn't sure what to say, how could she explain this to Spencer without telling her the truth?

"How did you get in here? Mary always keeps her door locked, and you don't have a key." Spencer asked, trying to figure out exactly what Veronica's plans were.

"I noticed you don't have one either." Veronica said, infuriating Spencer even more than she already was.

"Stop dodging my questions.. if you really want me to talk to you, you're going to have to start being honest with me." Spencer said. Some days it seemed like Veronica just didn't understand how to have a normal relationship with anyone.

"Fine, you're right.. I'll tell you." Veronica gave in finally, Mary might've been the girl's blood, but Spencer definitely got her negotiation skills from her.

Spencer looked at her expectantly. "I dropped by to talk to her.. it didn't go very well." Veronica said finally, it wasn't a lie, it was a lie of omission.

"And she stormed out and left you sitting here?" Spencer asked, knowing that wasn't something the woman would do usually. She was always careful with leaving places secure, safe.

"Yeah… I guess I really upset her." Veronica said, still feeling horrible that it had gone the way it had.

"What did you say? She has pretty thick skin, so it must've been something extreme." Spencer said, only wondering what might've gone down. "You didn't call her insane did you?"

"No of course I didn't!" Veronica said, increasingly frustrating now. "I know better than to trigger an insane woman." She clamped her hands over her mouth, realizing she had let it slip out.

"This is why I can't stand you!" Spencer shouted now, "How many times have I told you, she's not insane!" She was fuming at her mother now, how dare she talk about Mary that way.

"I can't believe you're still here.. sitting in my cabin.. calling me insane behind my back.. again." Mary said, she had been standing in the door frame for a while now. She had hoped upon her arrival back that she would find her cabin vacated.

"Mary.. it's not how it sounded." Veronica tried to explain, while sitting in the cabin she had a lot of time to think. She realized she had been wrong, that Mary deserved an apology.

"You know what.. get out. Get out of my cabin, don't ever show your face to me ever again." Mary said, raving now.

"Fine." Veronica said, giving in to whatever the woman wanted. She hated thinking of what she had done, what she had said. She went there originally that day to confront the woman, and left wanting to truly apologize.

There would be time for that, some other day, if she ever got the chance.

When Veronica was finally gone, Mary slumped down into the desk chair, her head in her hands. Spencer watched her curiously, remembering about the other tribulations of her day.

"What a day." Mary said, a tone of grief noted in her voice.

"Hey.. mom.. look at me." Spencer said, bending down to Mary's level, "Don't let her get in your head."

"Too late for that." Mary said with an exasperated sigh. Wishing she could go back and do things differently, she would never have been blackmailed into taking that babysitting job, if she hadn't been with Veronica. But didn't that make her just as bad as Veronica? Considering Veronica a mistake just as Veronica considered her a mistake?

Suddenly, Spencer remembered the present she had gone to certain lengths to retrieve. "I.. got you something." She said, handing the gift to her mother.

"For what?" Mary asked, looking to the girl with gratitude.

"Your birthday.. did you think I wouldn't realize?" Spencer asked, looking at the skepticism on Mary's face.

"Alison told you didn't she?" Mary said, realizing that the two were closer than she originally imagined.

"That she did." Spencer fessed up. It didn't make a difference to Mary that Spencer hadn't known herself, she hadn't expected anyone to go out of the way, just for her.

Mary opened the box, and found a book inside, not just one book, multiple books. She was confused at first, before she realized… "Spencer.. you honestly didn't have to." She said, not sure how the girl had done it.

Mary turned to her bookshelf and looked at the two Charles Dickens books she had already, and the three others Spencer had given her. She placed them on the shelf, a single tear rolling down her face.

"Please.. it really wasn't any trouble." Spencer said bashfully. "I've already read them hundreds of times."

Mary turned and pulled the girl into a hug. Even though it may have just seemed like books to Spencer, they were the world to Mary. They meant a new beginning in the world, a fresh start, maybe a happy ending with a family she loved.

"Thank you.. so much." Mary said, still crying at Spencer's thoughtful gift.

"Don't cry.. I'm going to start crying if you cry." Spencer said, wiping the woman's tears.

Spencer felt a vibration coming from her pocket, she reluctantly pulled away from Mary and pulled her phone out.

With a sigh, she looked at her phone.

 _It's time for your turn at the game.. it's going to be a hell of a time -A.D._

"One of the girls?" Mary asked, seeing Spencer turn white as a sheet. She gathered it wasn't, but gave it the benefit of the doubt.

"Quite the opposite actually." Spencer began, not bearing to leave Mary on her birthday. She made an executive decision, screw A.D., screw the game, this was more important.

"You can go.. it's fine." Mary said understandingly, she wasn't quite sure what the girl was going through, but knew it wasn't good.

"It can wait." Spencer said with a smile. Mary smiled back, despite having said before it didn't affect her, she seemed genuinely relieved.

As if on cue, Alison and Emily walked into the cabin carrying takeout and two bottles of wine. Both wore huge smiles on their faces, and Mary and Spencer looked shocked.

"The party doesn't start till the lesbians walk in!" Emily whooped, causing Alison to flush with embarrassment and the other two to start laughing uncontrollably.

They put the bottles down on the table and Alison gave Mary a hug. Mary looked at the bottles skeptically, "I hate to be the one to spoil the mood, but you aren't drinking Alison, you're pregnant."

Emily couldn't help but laugh, "I'm one step ahead of you Mary, the second bottle is non alcoholic." She said, waving the bottle with pride. "You don't think I would risk my future children like that, do you?"

Alison's heart swelled when Emily said 'future children' she almost couldn't believe the words were true.

"I didn't doubt your ways for a second." Mary said, and Emily laughed. Spencer helped the two of them unpack the food while Alison made herself comfortable on one of the chairs Mary had brought into the cabin.

"I'd like to propose a toast." Spencer began, catching everyone's attention from the current conversation. "We've been through a lot, every one of us. And still, we manage to find happiness, even in the worst of times. So I'd like to propose this one to all of us, being together, as one family."

"To us." Alison said, looking to her girlfriend, cousin, and aunt, smiles radiating on all of their faces.

"To us." The other three replied, clinking their glasses together. And taking a drink.

"And to Mary, for her birthday." Emily added, thinking it was fitting. She looked to the woman whose face was truly beaming.

"To Mary." The other three replied, and Alison pulled Mary into a one armed hug, before taking a swig of her non alcoholic drink.

When everyone was settled, drinks in hand, they finally were able to relax. Not one of them thought about A.D, Jenna, or any sort of impending doom. It was a calm before the storm, and with each other, they were truly happy.

* * *

 _Unknown's POV_

 _I sank back down into my chair, I couldn't believe that bitch openly betrayed my command. I made it clear in the rules of the game that they were to take their turns when I say, not when it was convenient. Oh, make no mistake, that bitch will pay._

 _"It's time." I said turning to the woman I had considered my partner for months now. Secretly, I couldn't wait to get rid of her, but for now, I needed her._

 _"So... the plan..?" She asked, even though she already knew the answer._

 _"The plan is officially in motion. It's time to show those bitches whose really the boss around here." I said, swiveling over to my main control panel. I looked down at the red button I had marked for when it was time._

 _"Are we sure about this? Once that button is pushed, there's no going back." She said. It seemed she thought that she was in control, but that right was still mine._

 _"If I say it, it happens." I said passively, I stood back, "Would you do the honors?"_

 _She nodded, and stepped forward. Her finger lingered over the button for a minute, possibly thinking about how much death and destruction this would bring. If she was having second thoughts, I wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in her head. She pressed it, finally, and we watched as the board game we had crafted so magnificently, began to spew flames out of it's sides._

 _I laughed as I watched the barn Spencer had called her home, burn to the ground. The woman sat with a slight look of skepticism on her face._

 _"Why so glum?" I asked, noticing her brow now furrowed._

 _"How is the board game going to survive the fire?" She asked, looking back to the now scorched barn. Pieces were falling off the rafters, and the house crumbled in place. If I got lucky it might spread to the Hasting's residence. Even though killing Veronica wasn't a part of the plan, it would be an extra added bonus._

 _"I built it with fire resistant material..." I explained, admiring my beautiful craftsmanship. "The one thing left standing amid the blaze." She nodded, as if she understood. "Let this be a message to her, as to who's in control." I finished finally, having grown bored with the burning barn._

 _"Where will she go?" The woman asked, almost as if she was concerned. God, what the hell was I thinking bringing her into this?_

 _"Most likely? Straight to Alison. And that's exactly what we want." I said, I couldn't help but smile as I envisioned my plan going accordingly._

 _The woman nodded, and I wondered if she knew how expendable she really was. Try as I might, I couldn't get her to understand the concept of what I was doing. How deep the cause really went, not that it was just some game, that it was survival._

 _"And the others?" She asked, again, still concerned._

 _"We'll kill them off when opportunity strikes, it's Spencer and Alison I really want." I said, running a hand through my hair. "And I always, get what I want."_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 **A/N: I'm so sorry this chapter took so long to get done! This is totally three weeks overdue, but it's a good one, and worth the wait, I promise. It's 10K words, so a lot of material for you to read, to make up for the long break.**

 **Also, special shout out to my new editor Ava ( /epicdelenas on twitter) Ava graciously took on the task of editing this train wreck for me, because grammar is not my strong suit. But huge shout out to her because she saves me a lot of time and stress!**

 **Anyway, this chapter has a little bit of everything for everyone, so I hope you enjoy it, and I hope the wait really was worth it for most of you! Don't forget to leave a review!**

* * *

Smoke. Flames. The world around her burned down until it was nothing but a huge cloud of smoke and flames. The barn, the house, everything she had once known, everything she had taken for granted just that day, was gone.

Spencer looked as the firefighters trying to contain the explosive flames that had single- handedly claimed almost everything she had. How she wished she could start the day over again, maybe if she hadn't said it didn't feel like home anymore, maybe it would still be there now.

Or maybe it wouldn't have made any difference, because standing amidst the ruins of her home, she couldn't imagine losing it so easily. And yet, it was gone. She wasn't allowed to go any closer than the length she was already at, for fear the fire might take her as well.

What would she do now? Now that everything she once had was gone? When this thought crossed her mind, she remembered that not everything was gone. She still had Alison, Emily, Aria, Hanna and even Mary. She still had her friends and family, why should she worry about a stupid house? And yet she was worrying.

Spencer realized after awhile that Mary and Alison had been trying to talk to her, but the words hadn't gotten through until now. It was something funny Spencer could just do, drown out the noise. She became quite good at doing it when she needed to concentrate fully on something, but sometimes it was too good.

"Spencer." Alison said as she realized the girl's full attention wasn't where it needed to be.

"Spencer, we need to move while they try and contain the fire, we need to back up." Mary pleaded with her, it wasn't working that well.

The firefighters weren't doing the greatest job to try and contain the rapidly growing flames, they were about as competent as the police department.

Mary moved Spencer back forcefully now, not wanting to see her daughter consumed by flames. Alison helped her in this task, and then left the two to stand next to Emily.

Alison became worried for a moment. "Em, what if it spreads to our house?" She turned to her girlfriend for a firm denial of her worry.

"I'm sure they won't let it get that far, Ali." Emily confirmed, and wrapped the girl into a bear hug, paying careful attention to the baby bump.

Hanna scoffed, surveying the work. "They aren't doing too great of a job. Spencer's house is pretty much a pile of ashes." Again, Hanna didn't know that what she was saying would have an affect on Spencer, but it did.

She turned back and looked at the residence, seeing that Hanna was correct. Tears brimmed at her eyes, her childhood home, it was gone. She buried her tear stained face into Mary's shoulder.

"Han, I don't think that helped." Aria offered gently, she herself wasn't aware of everything that had happened in the past week, but she had her doubts.

When it seemed that they finally had the fire contained, Spencer willed herself to look back up. Her house really had been left in ruins. A fireman came running towards her.

"M'am, I'm afraid we have some bad news." The man began, realizing this wouldn't help the situation at all.

"My house just burned down to the ground, how much worse can it possibly get?" Spencer asked with an amount of sarcasm and bitterness in her voice.

"Miss, we found a body inside the remnants of the house." The man let that piece of information sink in before he finally continued. "The victim was badly burned, no recognizable facial features. We were however, able to gather it was a woman."

The last parts didn't matter, Spencer didn't hear them, she didn't hear the gasps of the girls, or the strangled cry from Mary behind her. All she heard was the ringing of her own ears. She didn't need to hear the description to know.

"No." She barely managed to croak out.

Her mother, Veronica, had been taken by the fire. At least, that's what it sounded like. God she had been so stupid, if she wouldn't have snapped at her like that, she never would've gone home. And now? Now she was gone, gone thinking that the only person she had left, her own daughter, hated her. Spencer couldn't bare thinking her last thoughts were of how she had failed her.

"No, no, no." She kept muttering over and over to herself. She wasn't even aware of Mary's arms wrapping around her again, shielding her from the nightmare around her. She could very faintly feel Mary's tears falling from her face onto Spencer's shoulders.

When Spencer came to her senses again she found herself on the ground, sobbing so much harder than she might've imagined. The girls stood around her, all equally shaken by the news.

"Spencer… we need to go back to Ali's house." Mary said soothingly, trying to lull the girl out of her stupor. She could tell it wasn't working, so instead she clutched onto her daughter tighter and ran a hand through her hair.

"How can she be gone? It's not possible… she can't be gone… it's not possible." Spencer mumbled to herself, Mary heard her, but she didn't know what to say, because she didn't know herself.

Veronica, the stubborn minded, possibly homophobic, strong, powerhouse of an attorney, had perished so easily in a measly house fire? It just didn't seem right, that her life had gone so easily. Veronica wasn't the person who would give up without a fight, so it must've arson, a fire specifically to kill her. But Mary kept that thought to herself for now.

Alison moved to help Mary with Spencer, and beckoned for the girls to follow. All together, they managed to pick the girl up off the ground and get her into the comfort and safety of the DiLaurentis house.

* * *

"Alison, do you have a medical kit? Or something for me to clean her up with?" Mary asked her niece when they got to the kitchen. They both turned and looked at Spencer, who was sitting quietly in the living room.

"Yeah.. I do." Alison said somberly, she was currently getting Spencer a glass of water. "Em, can you get the first-aid kit?"

Emily stood up from her seat in the kitchen, "Sure." Mary could tell that all of the girls were just as affected by Veronica's death as her daughter was. She had no idea of their past connection with the woman, how much, if any feelings, they had for Veronica.

"You think she'll be okay? I mean.. she'll survive right?" Mary asked Alison hesitantly. She wasn't so sure what would happen next, she looked over at her daughter and saw her completely empty inside. The light Mary had once seen behind her eyes, was gone.

"Spencer? She's the strongest person I know. She survived Radley, a gunshot to the chest, years of being stalked by A..." Alison paused and thought for a moment, the fact that she had to think about all the tragedies of the girl's lifetime was almost laughable. "God, she even survived the Dollhouse, and she's still here."

Mary grew confused, whatever that was, it didn't sound good. "The Dollhouse?" She watched as a look of realization and pain grew in Alison's eyes.

"You don't know…" Alison paused. "Of course you don't know, you were in London." She scoffed to herself, "I'm so stupid, why would I bring that up?" She put her head in her hands, the events of the past twenty four hours had really gotten to her head.

"Alison.. it's fine.. I was just curious." Mary said, feeling horrible that she had even asked the original question.

"It's my fault for bringing it up." Alison said, realizing she had screwed up big time. "You deserve an explanation, but now might not be the time." She said, motioning to Spencer again.

Emily came sauntering back into the kitchen, first-aid kit in hand. She handed it to Mary, "Here. You should probably do it."

Mary nodded and took the kit from the girl, moving cautiously into the living room. She walked right into the conversation between Aria, Hanna, and Spencer.

"Who could've caused this?" Hanna asked aloud finally. She was in the dark about almost everything that went on nowadays, and obviously knew nothing about how the fire had started, and why.

"I know exactly who caused this." Spencer gasped out now, her voice hoarse from all of her crying, "A.D."

Neither girls said anything to this as they had now noticed Mary's presence, and still seemed uneasy around the woman, for what ever reason.

"Spencer, I'm going to clean up the cuts you have, you took a pretty hard fall." Mary said calmly, bending down to get close to her level. The other four girls standing close behind, watching Spencer in her fragile state.

"Okay." Spencer accepted the care softly. She really did not want any attention or care, but knew it was for the best. She couldn't stop her tears from falling as Mary used the disinfectant to clean her wounds, and clean her ash ridden face.

It broke the older woman's heart to see her daughter so distraught, she had never seen her like this, ever. She supposed tragedy wasn't new to Spencer, but hated watching her go through it.

When Mary finished with the last bandage, she stood up. "There. Now you won't have to worry about that." She leaned down and left a kiss on the top of Spencer's head.

"Thank you." Spencer said, afraid that she would break if she said another word.

"Do you need anything else?" Mary asked, hoping that she could be of some help to her daughter.

"I need the sick son of a bitch who killed my mother and burned down my house," she paused and took a deep breath. "Dead." Spencer said, feeling that the wrath of hell had entered into her smoke filled lungs.

A sudden ring of their phones caused all the girls to look down. Except Spencer, Spencer didn't bother giving the bitch the satisfaction. Aria read the message aloud,

 _Me? Dead? I'd like to see you try… this is what you get for not listening._

- _A_. _D_

"What does it mean… 'for not listening'?" Emily asked, looking up at Spencer who had a shocked look on her face.

"Oh my god. I really did cause this, she's dead because I didn't go to play that stupid game." Spencer said, letting the idea of her mother's sudden death finally sink in. Tears brimmed in her eyes.

"She's gone…because of me." she sobbed out finally. Aria came to her side, pulling her as far into her small arms as she could.

Mary left the room, feeling overwhelmed, and put the first aid kit back down onto the kitchen table. She turned to Emily who looked like she was going to be sick as well. "I should've told her to just go." Mary sighed out finally.

"What do you mean?" Emily asked, turning to look at Mary now.

"She wanted to stay, to celebrate my birthday, instead of going to play the game. I should've made her go, and none of this would've happened." Mary explained, her voice shaking in spite of herself. "Veronica is dead because of me." At last, she let a single tear slip out.

"Veronica is dead, because A.D. is a ruthless bastard who thinks killing people and burning down houses is the best option when things don't go their way." Emily said, more pissed at A.D. than upset about Veronica. "And after all Veronica did to you.."

"She didn't deserve to be burned alive, Emily… I don't care what she did… she didn't deserve it." Mary stuttered out now. "I wouldn't wish that fate on anybody."

"You still can't blame yourself, if Veronica saw her house on fire she should've gotten herself out in time. What happened to her was her own fault, not the fault of you or Spencer." Emily said, trying to convince Mary that she shouldn't beat herself up about it.

But deep down, Mary did. The woman had seemed truly remorseful before she left, like she actually wanted to make amends. But she hadn't given her the chance, now Mary had to deal with it. Her last words to the woman had been kicking her out, to her death. She swallowed, hard, her stomach forming into knots thinking about what she could've done differently.

Suddenly, the door to the DiLaurentis house flew open, and running in came the last person any of the women expected to see.

"Spencer? Spencer are you alright?" It was Veronica, ash covered her shoes and outer coat as she ran to her daughter. She obviously had just seen the ruins of their house.

"Mommy?" Spencer asked cautiously, not believing her eyes. Was Veronica really in front of her, or had she already begun hallucinating? "Mommy? Is that really you?"

"Oh, baby.." Veronica said, moving forward and surveying Spencer. "Thank god you're not hurt. I came home and saw the fire and I thought.."

"It is you… you're alive!" Spencer nearly shouted, running from Aria into Veronica's arms. She held onto Veronica tightly, never wanting to let her go. "I thought you were dead.. I thought you were the body in the fire." She said, tears of joy soaking Veronica's coat.

"Wait.. wait.. slow down." Veronica said, looking Spencer in the face now, and wiping the single tear left on her face. "Somebody actually died in our house fire?"

Emily and Mary had come running out of the kitchen now, "Veronica?" They both yelled in surprise at the same time.

"Wait… if Veronica is alive.." Alison began, trying to wrap her head around the sudden turn of events.

"Then who died in the fire?" Emily finished her thought perfectly. They both looked at each other, a sinking feeling surrounding them both.

Mary still couldn't believe her eyes, tears pricked at them. She saw Spencer burying her head into the woman's shoulder, and felt a pang of jealousy. But the feeling of relief just to see the woman alive, and well, was enough.

Spencer's phone began to ring, she answered it. "H-Hello?"

"Don't say I never gave you anything." A robotic voice came through the other end before hanging up.

"Who was it?" Veronica asked her, noting the call had been relatively short.

"A telemarketer." Spencer came up with quickly, before burying herself back into the hug. The answer satisfied her mother. Alison turned to her family, what would they do now? Now that their house was gone, everything lost. Veronica was alive, which was a miracle in itself, but now she also had to deal with the loss of the house.

* * *

When Aria and Hanna decided to call it a night, it was just the five of the women left. No one knew what to say to the two who had just lost everything. Emily and Alison decided to do some cleaning in the kitchen, in order to give the women some time to think.

"I don't even remember how today started." Alison said, "so much has happened in the last 24 hours I can't keep track." She sighed as she put her newly washed dish onto the towel so Emily could finish drying it.

Emily wiped her hands with a dishrag and wrapped her arms around Alison's waist. "At least we have each other." She held onto Alison tightly.

"I know… but what are Spencer and Veronica going to do Em?" Alison said, not worrying so much about herself as she was the others.

"This is really bothering you, huh?" Emily said, sensing that Alison really needed to have a serious conversation. She unwrapped her arms and looked her girlfriend in the eyes now. They sat down at the kitchen table so they could negotiate.

"It is… what would we do in their situation? If our house burned down and we had nothing left?" Alison asked, she hated to even think it, but the fire had come close enough to the house, that it could've happened.

"We would make do with who.. and what.. we had left." Emily said, "We would move in with my mom, if she let us stay, with Spencer, if her house was still intact." She knew that their would always be people who had their backs, always a fail safe.

"Which is why we should let them stay here with us." Alison said, finally getting to the point of the whole conversation. Emily seemed unsure, she was always one for helping people, but Veronica?

"Al, are you sure? After everything Veronica said to us?" Emily hated being the voice of reason, but the woman would probably do nothing but make snide comments and give them dirty looks. Alison knew Emily was really concerned whenever she called her 'Al', usually it was 'Alison or 'Ali' but when she said 'Al,' she meant business.

"Em we have to, if not for Veronica, then for Spencer. We have to at least offer." Alison said, she hated the idea of the whole thing, but knew it was the right thing to do. She couldn't imagine either woman refusing the offer, what other choice did the two have?

"What happens when she sees you throwing up? Or walks in on us kissing? Or when we have to start building the nursery? Then what?" Emily asked, thinking of the worst things that could happen. She didn't plan on telling Veronica the good news before she told her own mother.

"If she takes us up on our offer, we tell her. There's not much else we can do." Alison explained. "Please Em, we have to." She said, flashing Emily the puppy eyes she could never resist. "We'll make do with what we have, and who we have, like you said."

"Alright, fine. But the second she makes a snide comment about us being gay, she's out." Emily said, trying to come to some sort of rules for their new houseguests. She wasn't about to be controlled by the woman.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Alison squealed like a giddy puppy, she threw her arms around Emily's neck and brought their lips together, savoring the peace while they had it. Emily let the feeling of happiness sink in for a moment before taking a sigh.

"What is it Em?" Alison asked, noting the sigh.

"We still have to finish these dishes." Emily said, groaning at the thought. Alison laughed aloud at the dissatisfaction on Emily's face.

* * *

"What now? I mean, what are we going to do?" Spencer voiced her thoughts finally, she had been too afraid to say it aloud, so she thought it the whole time.

"We'll do what we have to, Spencer, we always have." Veronica replied, taking all of the events of the night into consideration. She hadn't imagined anything like this would've happened, and yet, here they were.

"Everything you had, everything I had, it's all gone. We have nothing, and dad doesn't even know yet…" Spencer trailed off as she remembered Mary in the room sitting across from her. She then remembered her father, and the horrible person he was. "On second thought, maybe he should've been the one who burned to death in the fire."

"Spencer!" Veronica snapped, she too, was thinking the same thought, but couldn't believe her daughter had said it aloud.

"I meant what I said, my father is a rapist, and a cheater, and a liar…I would continue on but it's been a long day for both of us, and I'd rather not start a fight." Spencer settled herself down finally. She hoped, for her father's sake, that he never came back to Rosewood.

"It doesn't matter now, it's not his house anymore." Veronica said with an exasperated sigh. "It's not our house either, it's ash, dust, fire, let out into the wind."

"I'm not worried about the fucking house!" Spencer snapped finally, causing even Mary to look up. "I'm worried about how fucked up my life is, this house is just a part of that! I go one second from thinking my mother is dead, and missing her and regretting everything, to seeing her alive, and remembering how she lied to me about everything, since day one!" She had finally let go of all the pent up emotion she had wanted to spew out at Veronica for days.

"You don't know how exhausting it is… trying to be the rock everyone depends on while crumbling apart inside? Every element of my life is already messed up in some way, although I don't expect you to understand that." Spencer finished, now looking to Mary with tears in her eyes. She couldn't bear to look at Veronica any longer.

"Spencer, I can't make up for any of this, I know. But I am sorry, for everything. For lying to you about everything, for probably making the whole mental illness situation worse. For making your whole life a mess, even when I thought I was doing my best. I can't do much, but I can tell you that I truly am sorry." Veronica said, finally opening up to Spencer after all this time. It was true words, coming from her heart, not just some campaign speech.

"I need to use the bathroom." Spencer said, still not looking at Veronica and heading towards the upstairs bathroom of the house. She didn't actually need to use the bathroom, but it was a way of getting out of the conversation. It occurred to her that leaving Mary and Veronica alone wasn't a good idea, but she didn't care at that point.

The whole time Mary had sat in silence, but now she felt compelled to speak. "You tried your best, and that's all you could've done."

"Don't try and give me some hope speech, I don't want to hear it right now, especially not from you." Veronica snapped at her. Why did the woman always have to be so nice?

"Well, pardon me for trying to put some perspective on this." Mary said, retreating back to her silent state on the couch. She wasn't even sure why she still tried. "Dead for an hour and it takes her a minute to get back to fighting." Mary murmured to herself.

"I heard that." Veronica snapped back at her, scowling. "And I'll have you know fighting with you is what I live for." She finished bitterly. It took her a minute to realize what she had said, and how it had sounded. "That… that's not what I meant… that sounded much nicer than it was supposed to."

Mary was intrigued by how flustered Veronica had become, but didn't show it. "Right.. I get it." She said, even though she hadn't gotten it at all.

"Seems like you two are getting along.. " Spencer said, walking back into the living room from the bathroom. "It's kind of sweet." She was satisfied with herself, they had successfully had a half conversation without arguing.

"It's not sweet.. I still can't stand her." Veronica said with a tone of annoyance.

"Well the feeling is mutual." Mary snapped back. And she meant it, she hadn't forgotten about Veronica's betrayal, but her near-death experience put a pause on the fight. Spencer chuckled at their actions, but was glad the conversation was back to normal.

Alison and Emily came walking back into the room just as Mary and Veronica finished their conversation. Spencer looked at them anxiously, still not sure if they would be okay with what she wanted to ask them.

"I.. just wanted to talk to you two." Spencer approached her two friends. She had taken some time to think things over.

"We actually wanted to talk to you too," Alison said, she turned to Veronica, "both of you."

Veronica was now intrigued by the girl. She stepped closer to Spencer, giving Alison her full attention.

"We want you two to move in with us." Alison got out finally. She sighed in relief after she said it.

Emily continued. "We know if the roles were reversed you would do the same for us.. so despite the strong feelings between us, Veronica," She said, looking to the older woman, "We're willing to put our past aside and help you both out."

"If you're willing, we'd be happy to open this place up to you." Alison said cheerfully, "With some conditions of course."

Spencer looked to her mother, wondering what was happening in her mind, and her loss for words painted a picture. She was hesitant, it wasn't an immediate yes, but it wasn't a no either, it was a skeptical evaluation of the two.

"Yes." Spencer said immediately, "Thank you so, so much, I was so worried, and I wasn't sure what I was going to do…"

Alison was met in an embrace with Spencer, she would do anything for her cousin. They were connected by blood, not just by friendship, and that meant a lot to her.

"What about you, Veronica?" Emily asked, Spencer was now standing next to them, looking at her mother with pleading eyes.

"I'm so grateful for you opening your household up to me, but I'm going to have to pass." She said as respectfully as possible. She did appreciate the offer, but knew she wouldn't be able to hold her comments and thoughts as long as she was staying with the couple.

Alison was somewhat surprised, Emily, more appalled than shocked. It was Spencer who spoke out of the group of girls, "Mom, where will you go?"

"Yeah.. you have any better options than this place?" Emily spoke up now, trying not to show too much anger towards the woman. How dare she have the audacity to turn them down, their hospitality, their kindness, to her, and she denied it?

"I'll stay at the Lost Woods.." Veronica responded quickly, "With Mary." She turned to Mary, who stood with her mouth agape. She hadn't settled on this, she hadn't even talked over it with her. Who was she, just making that decision without consulting her first?

"Like hell you will." Alison said, stepping forward, "I know what you and Peter did to her, and hell will freeze over before I let you do that." She had tried to be kind, but when it came to risking Mary's safety, that's where she drew the line.

"Alison… it's fine, really." Mary put her arm out to hold back her niece from attacking Veronica. "The resort is open and needs guests, she can stay there if she wants." Alison looked at Mary hesitantly as she continued, "I just don't know why she would go to that dump of a resort instead of staying in this mansion."

Alison shot Veronica another dirty look, not trusting her true intentions. Staying in the Lost Woods, close to Mary, seemed like a bad idea to her. Why would she want to stay there instead of in the house, if not for some alternate reason?

"It's settled then. We'll both stay here for the night, and then we can go and see if anything is salvageable at the house. I also have the storage unit…" Veronica went on telling Spencer the details of what they possibly have left, maybe things they could salvage. It could wait till the morning though, Alison and Emily showed them to the guest bedrooms and Mary made her way back to the Lost Woods.

* * *

The next day, Spencer went back to the house before any of the others woke up. Mostly, she had gone to see what was left before her mother could. It was first come first serve as far as she was concerned.

It wasn't an extra pair of clothes, or any knick knacks that Spencer found, it was probably the last thing she wanted to find.

The board game, Liar's Lament, sat untouched in the middle of the remnants of her barn. It wasn't possible, how could it be? How had the board game not have burned? And how would she sneak it out of the barn and into the DiLaurentis house without Veronica noticing?

She picked it up and put it back in the box, which also somehow remained untouched, and carried it back to the house. She found Alison and Emily sitting at the kitchen table, and placed it down in front of them.

"Seriously?" Alison asked in disbelief.

"How did it survive the fire? That's- that's not even possible!" Emily yelled out in frustration.

"What's not possible?" Veronica asked, coming down the stairs groggily, still in the same clothes from yesterday. Spencer kicked the box under the kitchen table just in time for Veronica to enter the kitchen.

"It's not possible that the police still haven't identified who died in our house fire!" Spencer came up with the lie in record time, praying to herself that Veronica would leave for the house instead of staying for long. "It's ridiculous." She added for effect.

"Well, I'm going to go check out the house, and then stop by the storage unit. I promised Mary I'd meet her at the Lost Woods by noon." Veronica explained, grabbing a piece of toast Emily had just made for herself and taking a bite. "I'll drop off anything I find of yours." She said to her daughter before walking out the door, Emily's breakfast in hand.

"I can't believe Mary is letting her stay there." Spencer said, moving over to sit down at the table with a cup of coffee. "They hate each other, and now she's helping her move in?"

"Yeah? Well I can't believe I haven't murdered her yet." Alison said bitterly, concerning Spencer slightly. "and I also can't believe this board game survived that fire."

"I… I can't believe she took my toast…" Emily said in disbelief, looking at her empty toaster now. "She just took it… like she owned the place… she didn't even put any butter or jam on it, just plain." She finished, disgusted at the woman's lack of toast condiments.

Alison couldn't help but laugh, "It's okay baby… I'll make you more toast." She said, getting up and putting more bread in the toaster.

"So Spence, what's your plan for the day?" Emily asked, now sitting back down and finishing her eggs.

"Well. Mary and Veronica are busy moving things, and you two are…?" She wasn't sure what the couple had planned for the day.

"We're having lunch with my mom later… so we can tell her about us, all four of us." Emily said with a smile towards Alison, who put her hand on her bump.

"Well in that case, I figured I'd stop by and check on Toby." Spencer explained, finishing up her coffee and sticking the cup in the sink. She took Emily's toast out and threw it on her plate. "Bye you two!"

"Bye Spencer!" They both shouted back as Spencer ran out the door.

* * *

Spencer arrived at Toby's house twenty minutes later, she took in a deep breath and tapped her fist on the door. She wasn't sure what state she would find Toby in, she couldn't imagine what he was going through, and the visit was long overdue.

When Toby answered the door, Spencer gasped at his appearance. He had grown a beard, a large beard, and looked like he hadn't seen daylight in months. He looked at Spencer, his own face lit up at spotting her on his doorstep.

"Spencer.." he started, but wasn't sure how he would continue his sentence.

"Toby.." She said, still not managing to look at him without feeling horrible. The fact that he had started neglecting his own needs, it showed her that she should've showed up months ago.

"If I would've known you were coming, I would've cleaned up." He said, almost embarrassed at his own appearance.

"I'm sorry that I didn't get to you sooner… I've been so busy with Mary and Alison… all the secrets, all the lies." Spencer was kicking herself for this, and looked at Toby with pity.

"Why don't you come in? You can tell me all about it." Toby offered, opening the door and stepping aside, allowing her to come in.

She was surprised to see that the house was immaculate, despite Toby's physical appearance, his living space was pristine. She never knew he was a neat freak, and he could tell she noticed. "I might've let myself go, but I would never let this place go."

Spencer nodded, she could understand that part of him. "Mary and Alison, when I wanted to let myself go, they stopped me." She sighed, "I wish I could've been that person for you."

Toby nodded, he hated to think that Spencer felt that way. She hadn't let him down, she had done the opposite of that. He knew she was going through her own problems, that he didn't need to bother her with his pity. "Mary… she's actually legit? I mean, she's a good person?" He decided to change the topic.

Spencer chuckled at his disbelief, "She's wonderful, almost too good to be true." She thought for a moment. "She loves me, Toby, and she understands everything I've went through, we understand each other. I got so lucky."

Toby took her hand, he loved seeing Spencer smile again. "If you're happy, I'm happy."

Spencer shook her head, "But you're not happy, I know that. You're upset about Yvonne, angry at that deer, maybe at the hospital.." She closed her eyes, "I get it… and I want you to know that I'm here for you, whenever."

Toby's smile faded, "I really appreciate that, thank you."

Spencer turned her brave voice back on, "That being said, man up Toby Cavanaugh!" She hated seeing him so weak like he was. "Stop letting yourself go, and start making an effort to move on."

Toby nodded, he knew she was right. "I've always loved a Spencer intervention." He thought for a moment, "How's your mom? Er, Veronica. And your dad?" He asked curiously. "This can't be easy on them either."

Spencer realized she had neglected to mention a very important detail, well, a couple of important details. "Sit back, and relax, this is going to be a long story."

Toby laughed, "I think I already regret asking."

"You really do." Spencer chuckled, continuing her story anyway. "Let me just start by saying, my father is a sick, cruel, vile, excuse of a human being and I hope he burns in hell."

Toby raised his eyebrows. "What a way to start… what warranted these feelings?"

Spencer realized, Mary hadn't given her permission to say. She had gone into this conversation with her feelings overpowering her logic. "I don't think I can tell you.. and I know that sounds ridiculous, but it's not my story to tell. Just know that if I ever see him again, he's dead."

Toby pondered this for a moment, "It's not your story to tell, because it's Mary's." Spencer nodded , confirming this silently.

"The second thing you need to know, my house burned down yesterday." She said it as if it was the most casual thing in the world.

Toby's mouth dropped to the floor. "Your house burned down?!" He grew concerned, "Is everyone okay? Is Veronica okay?"

"Someone died in the fire, but it wasn't Veronica. We're not sure who it was, because the body was burned so badly that all evidence and DNA is gone." Spencer explained, she thought back to the events of the previous day.

Toby hesitated to continue, "Anything else you need to tell me about?"

Spencer's mind immediately wandered to the fact that Mary knew the truth about his mother, but didn't feel the need to bring it up. It wouldn't do him any good, so she thought of something else instead. "Alison and Emily are together now."

Toby snorted, "Only took them ten years." He felt like he had missed so much in the little time he had locked himself away. Even when his world stopped, no one else's did.

"Where are you living now… now that your house is gone?" Toby asked curiously. "This house is always open to you if you need it." He offered kindly.

Spencer hadn't even thought about Toby's house as an option. But she realized it wasn't any right of hers to impose on his situation. "I'm living in the Dilaurentis house with Em and Ali, but I appreciate your offer." Spencer smiled warmly.

Toby opened his mouth to ask another question, but Spencer already knew what he was going to ask. "Veronica is staying at the Lost Woods, for now… she has some sort of problem with Emily and Alison, but she also has a problem with Mary so I'm not sure how she designated her choice."

Toby nodded, "I'm so sorry I haven't been here for you, through all of this. It must've been so much to get through, and I'm sorry."

Spencer pulled him into a hug. "Don't apologize, you had your own problems, and I had mine. Now that we've had them mostly figured out…"

"...We can get back to normal." Toby finished. "A.D is dead, you've found your family, we can start anew." He smiled broadly now.

Spencer didn't have the heart to tell him, she couldn't tell him, not when he was just finally recovering from his own traumas. She would smile, she would pretend for his own good that it was over. "Right. A new beginning."

"I'd love to meet Mary again, You know, officially. We've met before, but both times have been pretty uncomfortable for both of us." Toby explained.

"She's busy moving Veronica in, but maybe another day, after you've had a shower, and a shave, you could go over there and help her with some renovations." Spencer suggested.

"Fine. You win. I'll make myself presentable." Toby gave in finally. "But promise me you'll visit me again sometime this week." He gave her a pleading look, she imagined he must be lonely.

"I promise." She nodded, and he stood up, offering her a hug. It felt nice to have his arms wrapped around her again, a feeling she had missed.

"I'll see ya Spence." He said with a cheesy smile.

"See ya Toby."

* * *

Alison was pacing back and forth around her living room, waiting for Emily to get ready. Her mind raced at all the possibilities the night could bring, all the scenarios of how the dinner would go. Pam could be angry, and not see Alison worthy of her daughter, she could be overwhelmed about the babies, maybe even scared.

Lord knows she and Emily were scared, they were terrified, but they came to terms with it, hopefully like Pam would. But that didn't stop Alison from freaking out about it. She considered Pam as the mother she never had, the woman had already done so much for her in the past, that her acceptance meant everything to Alison.

Emily came out in a simple but elegant top, and jeans. Alison immediately felt overdressed in her significantly fancier outfit. "Is this too much? Too fancy? You think she'll like it?" She blurted out at once.

"Ali, stay calm, I'm sure my mom won't care about what you're dressed in." Emily said, trying to calm Alison's nerves was virtually impossible when her own were off the wall.

"Right, right. I'm just, freaking out, about everything." Alison admitted, she had finally stopped pacing and had grabbed both of their purses. "I'm terrified, but ready to go, so let's go." She said making her way to the door.

Emily stopped her, "Alison… aren't you forgetting something?"

Alison stopped to think for a moment, her mind still racing about a million other things. She looked down at her feet finally, and realized she had no shoes on. "Oh.. yeah. Shoes might be important." She said, slipping on simple flats. Heels and pregnancy did not mix.

As soon as both girls were both fully dressed, shoes and all, they finally departed to the Fields' house. Alison's palms began to sweat halfway through the ride, but she willed herself to not get sick, not before, or after, they got there. It was simply not an option.

When they arrived at the house, Pam greeted them at the door, her radiating smile calmed Alison down immediately. "My girls!" She said cheerfully. She pulled Emily into a hug first, then Alison. "Alison I haven't seen you in forever, we really have to make these dinners a habit!"

"We really do Mrs. Fields." Alison said with a smile to give her back. The older woman invited the two girls inside and they sat down at the table as Pam went to finish preparing dinner.

She insisted on no help, so Emily and Alison took seats next to each other. Emily squeezed Alison's hand, trying to share her strength with her girlfriend. "So when do we bring it up?" Alison whispered to Emily softly.

"I don't know, I guess whenever it feels right?" Emily offered a not so helpful inference to Alison. No time would ever feel right to tell your girlfriend's mother that you're pregnant with her two kids because your evil-dead ex husband fertilized her eggs and surgically inseminated you with them.

It sounded so much worse in her head.

Pam came back into the dining room and sat down with the Beef Wellington, it seemed the dish was a popular specialty among the families. Alison didn't feel the need to bring this up however.

Pam served them out food as she sat down at the table across from them. She couldn't help but notice their hands held tightly together, but didn't feel the need to bring it up either.

"So ladies, what's new?" She asked casually, Alison couldn't help but snort aloud, if only she knew. Pam raised her eyebrow at this, and Emily kicked her underneath the table.

"Not much actually." Emily said, telling her mother a huge lie. It hurt her heart to lie, but this was Alison's story to tell, not hers.

"Really… what about you Alison?" Pam inquired, noting that the girl hadn't been able to contain herself.

Well, as long as the woman was curious, Alison would give her some answers. "My dead mother has a twin who happens to be Spencer's mother. Veronica, Spencer's adoptive mom is now living in the Lost Woods with her because her house burned down. Emily and I are together, Spencer is living in my house, I'm pregnant with Emily's twins, Yvonne, Toby's fiancé is dead… anything I forgot to mention Em?" She finished rambling finally, taking a sigh of relief.

Pam sat for a minute, rethinking what she had just rambled out suddenly. "Did you say you and Emily are together…. and that you're pregnant with her twins?" Her mouth was open almost as wide as Emily's at the way Alison had just spilled everything out.

"Yes… I think you covered everything Ali." Emily said, rolling her eyes.

"Girls! I'm so happy you finally got together!" Pam said, practically leaping out of her seat. "I've been waiting for so long!" She was almost crying now.

"What about the pregnancy part… how do you feel about that?" Alison asked meekly, holding her breath, her heart skipping a beat as she held onto her stomach. She knew this would either go really well, or really horrible.

"I'm just a little confused… how are you pregnant with Emily's twins?" Pam asked, not exactly protesting it, which was a victory in itself for the girls.

"I'm not sure if you're familiar with my evil, crazy, and now dead, ex husband Archer Dunhill, and how he locked me up in Welby." Alison began, trying to see how much Pam was aware of.

"Yes. I was aware." Pam confirmed, allowing Alison to continue.

"And I'm sure you're aware of Emily donating her eggs…" Alison posed the question again, to which Pam nodded in confirmation, looking over at Emily.

"Archer, he stole her eggs, and he fertilized them, and he inseminated me with them. It was against my will of course, a procedure in Welby when I was heavily medicated." Alison tried to explain as delicately as possible. "While the circumstances are horrible, we talked, and we decided, we want to keep them, both of them."

Pam looked a lot overwhelmed, "This is all very confusing, and I'm not sure I agree with it entirely, but whatever you girls have decided, I'm with you 100%" she said offering a small smile. "I'm finally going to have grand babies!" She said excitedly.

Emily appreciated her mother's open minded attitude, she was always good about that. After all of the crazy shit they'd been through over the years, Pam had been able to believe anything.

Alison couldn't help but cry, "I was so nervous about this." Pam stood up, and pulled Alison into a hug. "You've been like a mother to me Mrs. Fields, your acceptance means everything to me."

"Alison, I will be here to support you through all of this. You'll always have me, so don't you worry about it anymore." She assured the girl, holding Alison tightly.

The whole scene warmed Emily's heart, she hadn't seen her mother care so deeply about another person before. But with Alison, her motherly instincts, to protect and love, kicked in. And now she would have two grandchildren to protect and love as well.

As soon as all of this was over, and everyone had settled down emotionally, Pam sat back down and continued her dinner. "So I heard some other interesting things in that summary…"

Alison sighed to herself, realizing she had a lot of explaining to do. She looked to Emily who simply said, "You're the one who brought Mary and the House of Hastings up, so you get to explain it."

Alison realized she was right, so she turned to Pam who grew interested at the name Mary. "Spencer's real mother, your aunt, her name is Mary?"

"Her name is Mary. And she's damaged, like me, like Spencer, but she's kind, amazing, and very supportive." Alison explained, bringing a smile to her face. "She seems scary at first, but deep down she's caring, and kind, and just wants to be happy for once… kinda like me."

Pam thought about this for a moment, "I'd love to meet her. She sounds wonderful, and if she supports you two.."

"She does." Emily confirmed, "We'll have to set up an opportunity for you two to meet."

Pam got excited once more, "So tell me more about my future grand babies… names? genders? nurseries?"

Alison smiled at Pam's genuine curiosity. She couldn't believe it had gone this well, and that Pam hadn't judged her about anything, she was just happy for them.

"We were thinking if they were a boy and girl, Jessica and Wayne." Emily spoke for Alison.

But Alison moved to correct her. "Actually… I'm reconsidering Jessica, upon new events being brought to light, but Wayne for sure."

Pam nodded, she didn't pry, she was never one to pry, although she was curious. "Naming the boy Wayne would be a beautiful tribute to him." She said, tears forming in her eyes. "I know he would be so happy to see you two together."

Pam still couldn't help but wonder what Jessica did to be taken off the baby name list, Alison's past experiences with her family weren't always good ones, and she knew that. Through everything, Pam was just happy Alison had found a part of her family that loved her, truly.

And she was excited to be a part of it.

* * *

Veronica finished rummaging through the remains of the house and storage unit, and left the two boxes of Spencer's belongings on the front steps of the Dilaurentis house. She didn't think they were home, and if they were, she didn't feel like another awkward conversation. She left a note along with the box:

 _Here's what I could find for you… I'll be at the Lost Woods if you need me. Though, I doubt you will_

- _Veronica_

It pained her to not sign it, 'Mom' but she knew Spencer didn't see her that way anymore, so 'Veronica' it was, for now. Maybe for forever, but she hoped just for now, like Mary had said. But what did Mary know? Not much apparently. What experience did she have with this sort of thing?

She tried her best to ignore the woman and her goody two-shoes attitude. Mary was too kind for her own good, no wonder she was manipulated so many times… she stopped that train of thought, realizing it was a horrible one.

Veronica loaded her three boxes into the car and departed for the Lost Woods. She had promised Mary she would be there by noon, and it was noon at that point. So what if she was late? But for some reason, it mattered to her, so she rushed to get there.

When she arrived, she found Mary on a ladder, tearing at some of the rotting wood in the main office. She stuck her head in the door and knocked briskly.

Mary spun around, and found her standing there. She threw down her piece of newly rotting wood into the pile, and brushed her hands off. "Is it noon already?" She asked, she wasn't sure how time had slipped away from her so quickly.

"Quarter past actually, I was a little late getting here from the storage unit." Veronica explained, she looked at the obvious renovation Mary had begun. "What's all this?" She said walking past the huge pile of wood and offering Mary a hand in getting off the ladder.

"Well, I've started some of the renovation on this old place myself. Spencer told me she was going to talk to Toby, and would casually slip this into the conversation." Veronica nodded as Mary continued. "She said the job might help him get back to his normal self."

"Well. I only have a few boxes of things I managed to find or salvage, so I'm going to go unload, and I'll meet you back here." Veronica said, taking the chance to get out of the conversation. She really didn't care about the renovations on the Lost Woods.

"Why do it by yourself? I'll help you out." Mary said, grabbing the key to the cabin she had designated as Veronica's.

Veronica opened her mouth to say something, but then realized that protest would be pointless. Mary was about as stubborn as she herself was. So she tossed Mary the car keys and she popped the trunk so Veronica could lift out her three boxes.

"So I take it the hunt for belongings went well?" Mary said, trying to start up conversation again. She hated standing in silence at all, in any situation.

"Yeah… I found two boxes of Spencer's stuff, three of mine, mostly of Peter's though." She added in at the end. She could see Mary become uncomfortable at the mention of him. "Don't worry, I threw out all of his things." She reassured the woman. The thought of this made Mary laugh.

They moved to stand in front of cabin number fourteen, and Veronica stood there expectantly. Mary's mind was on a million other things, and she found herself staring at Veronica after a while. The woman looked tired, run down. She still managed to keep her air of refined class, though, despite looking like she hadn't slept in days. Mary was completely enamored by Veronica.

That is, until the woman cleared her throat. "Mhm."

Mary snapped back into reality, "What are you waiting for?" She asked casually, as if she had been paying attention the whole time.

"The key." Veronica began, Mary was confused for a moment. "The key to my cabin, it's still in your hand." She explained, clearing up what she was trying to say.

"Oh… right." Mary said, trying to not seem flustered, she handed Veronica the key. "How stupid of me." She said cursing herself for letting her mind slip like it had.

Veronica opened the door and found the cabin in better condition than she expected. In all honesty, she had expected Mary to give her the worst of the worst. Unless this was the worst of the worst, and the others were just semi rotted.

"Hopefully this meets your standards… but I have to say, it is no Dilaurentis house." Mary explained, still not understanding why the woman would possibly choose to live here instead of there.

"It's just fine… I really appreciate this." Veronica said, offering some sort of thanks. Mary wasn't exactly sure if she meant it, but it was something, so she took it. She finished helping Veronica load her boxes into the cabin before turning to leave…

"Mary, wait…." Veronica said suddenly, causing Mary to stop dead in her tracks. She was curios as to what the woman might want, but prepared herself for the worst. "It's just… if you ever want to stop by and give me that hope speech, or even bicker a while, I'll be here." She said, an amount of hope left in her voice.

Mary couldn't help but crack a smile, Veronica was already worried about being lonely. "I'll keep that in mind." Mary said, trying to contain her excitement as she turned and actually left. Sure, this wasn't much, but it was a start, it was something.

* * *

Spencer found herself back on the Dilaurentis doorstep, fumbling for her key. She found the boxes Veronica had left her on the porch, and took them in with her. She hoped there was something, anything, she might be able to wear in the two boxes.

She threw them aside, not willing to look in them now. She knew they would probably hold nothing of use anyway. She was in a glass half-empty kind of mood.

Upon inspecting the kitchen, she found a note on the counter:

 _Went out with Mrs. Fields again.. left you a casserole in the refrigerator in case you're hungry._

 _-Alison_

Her cousin was always looking out for her. Spencer looked in the refrigerator, and sure enough, there was the casserole. She brought it out before deciding that eating it herself would be sad.

So, Spencer decided to phone a friend to have dinner with her. And in twenty minutes flat, Aria was sitting at the kitchen table with her, enjoying some casserole.

"Thanks for coming Aria." Spencer thanked her again as she shoveled some casserole into her mouth. She hadn't eaten all day.

"Thanks for inviting me Spence.." Aria began. "Ezra's still in New York, so I didn't have a dinner date either."

Spencer really did feel for Aria with the whole Ezra/Nicole situation. It couldn't of been easy for the tiny girl to deal with all of this. Ezra wasn't making the situation any better, however, she didn't doubt for a second that he did truly love Aria.

"Guys and Lesbians, always leaving you without dinner dates." Spencer said, shaking her head. This caused Aria to chuckle as she continued to chew her casserole.

"What's in the boxes?" Aria asked, she couldn't help but notice the boxes that had been pushed aside by the girl earlier.

"Some stuff my mom brought from the storage unit… I haven't gone through it yet because I figured none of it would help me much." Spencer explained. "That, and I didn't have the strength to open them."

"Well… that's what I'm here for." Aria said courageously, she was proud of her title. "The dinner date and the unpacking partner."

"Team Sparia really can do anything and everything, even eating lasagna and unpacking boxes are no feat." Spencer responded sarcastically as Aria flipped open the lid to one of the boxes.

"This might fit you." Aria said, holding up a bright red sweater vest to Spencer, trying to judge the size. "On second thought, maybe not."

She tossed it into the pile of rejects as she continued to sort through the box. Most of it was clothes, but every so often she came across a tiny trinket that she asked Spencer about. The majority of her answers were to throw the piece of junk out, but some she kept.

By the end of the second box, the reject pile was bigger than the keep, but Spencer had several more outfit choices to choose from than before. She was grateful to Aria for helping her, and heated her up another serving of casserole.

When she sat back down, she found Aria staring at a necklace. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she stared down at the unfamiliar locket connected to the necklace chain.

"What?" She asked, but Aria didn't look up. "What is it Aria?"

Aria didn't know what to say, "It's nothing, just junk, another reject." She said reassuringly, but Spencer wasn't buying it. She took the locket out of her friend's hand and surveyed it herself.

In the locket there were three slots. One held a picture of Charlotte, one of Mary, and one of her. The picture of Charlotte had a red 'X' over it and underneath read, _'One down, two to go. Game on Bitch -A.D.'_

Spencer snapped the locket shut and looked at Aria with concern. "How did they even get into that box?" She pondered this for a moment, "You know what? Doesn't even matter, this is supposed to be in the junk pile." She said, tossing it into the huge heap.

Aria took a long sip of wine in response, and began to dive into her second slice of casserole as Spencer sat and thought about the threat she had just received for a minute. She was terrified, yes. But she didn't really care anymore.

A.D. could send as many threats as they wanted, that wasn't going to stop her from finding out the truth. No matter what it took, she would get justice for her sister, and figure out who this menace was.

But that, was easier said than done.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter** **10**

 **A/N: I have to start out by apologizing for making you guys wait so long for this chapter. You literally wouldn't believe the last three weeks of my life, let's just say they've been hectic.  
**  
 **If you've bared with me for the long wait, I hope you enjoy this chapter, because it's an important one!  
**  
 **Make sure you leave a review if you enjoyed, or DM me on twitter /sashayfields! I appreciate any commentary or feedback :)**

* * *

Alison and Emily came walking back into the house, hand and hand, after a long night of family discussion with Pam. It had gone surprisingly well, and Alison felt especially happy after realizing Pam was another great addition to her newfound family.

"I had a great time tonight." Alison said, slipping her hands into Emily's. She wished everyday could be as great as the one she had had.

"You're acting like we were on a date." Emily said with a small laugh. "But we're living in the same house." She loved the way Alison took their relationship seriously.

"I know. It's still nice to pretend like we're young again, make up for all that lost time." She responded, kissing Emily softly.

It took a minute for them to realize they had an audience, Spencer and Aria were still sitting in the kitchen, reeling from the latest gruesome message.

Alison seemed to notice their apprehension, and went to pick up the locket, which had been thrown in frustration. She looked it over carefully, once, and then again, before setting it back down.

None of the women said anything. Alison pulled Spencer into a bear hug, one the woman obviously needed. She hated seeing Spencer being targeted like this, she didn't deserve it on top of everything else she was dealing with.

"We'll find this person, I promise. Neither you, nor Mary, will get hurt." Alison spoke the comforting words to her cousin.

"You can't promise that." Spencer said, not allowing the facade of her words to hold up, "none of us know what A.D. will do to us, and when."

Aria spoke from her spot at the kitchen table, "But, we do know we can face it, together."

Emily moved in closer to the group, she really appreciated these girls, and wanted them all to stay safe. "At least we'll try." She said with a smirk.

From across the house the four could hear as the game board's speakers turned on, emitting a terrible screech. They looked at one another, before running to the guest bedroom they had stowed the game away in.

"It's my turn." Spencer said with a sigh, she knew even though she had had a punishment, she still had to take her turn.

The girls looked on cautiously as Spencer rolled a solid five on the die, and picked up her little figure to move it. She landed on a reward card square, she was surprised, she didn't think the game wouldn't let her off too easily, especially not after she betrayed it.

She picked the card from the deck, looking at it with a hitched breath, "Get out of jail free card." She looked at it in puzzlement, "it's a phone number." She explained to the other three standing around her.

Alison took the little card from her, "How will you know when you need to use it?"

"Probably when I'm about to go to jail." Spencer responded, rolling her eyes. "I knew this board game was a monopoly rip off." She took the little card back and stuck it in her purse, saving it for a time when she might need it.

"So, what now?" Emily asked, not exactly sure where they went from here. "You just wait until the Rosewood PD comes knocking?"

"A.D. always has a plan." Aria explained with a grim expression, "I'm sure we'll figure it out when it wants us to figure it out."

With that, the girls decided to sleep for the night. Aria didn't feel like going back to Ezra's empty apartment, so she crashed in Spencer's guest bedroom.

The small girl couldn't sleep, so she stared up at the ceiling for a while, contemplating her life up to that point.

"Hey Spence?" She whispered out into the air, hoping to find her friend was awake.

"Yeah Aria?" Spencer responded groggily, she had been asleep, but wouldn't let Aria know that. She was up for whatever conversation Aria needed to have.

"Do you ever think about what you'd do when it ends?" The tiny girl threw the idea out. "I think I'd get married to Ezra and then move away from here, far away from here."

Spencer considered this for a moment, "I would stay here, marry Toby, move into his house. I'd babysit Emily and Alison's kids, and help Mary run the Lost Woods." She said sleepily, not even realizing the secret she had just blown.

Aria sat up, confused at what she had said. "Did you say… babysit Emily and Alison's kids?"

Emily and Alison, who had just overheard the conversation, walked in. "Yeah, she did." Alison said with a smirk, and shot Spencer a look. "We wanted to tell you ourselves, but Spencer helped us out with that."

"What are you two doing up?" Spencer asked, shooting up from her pillow, fully awake now.

"We couldn't sleep either, and we heard you two chatting so we figured we might as well all be awake together." Emily explained, sitting on the bed across from the other two, Alison sat next to her.

"I'm pregnant." Alison began, hand on her stomach, "With Emily's eggs, it's twins." She finished, smiling widely at her secret finally being revealed to her other best friend. She didn't feel the need to go into the dark backstory behind the twins, just the fact that they were Emily's.

Aria smiled back, pulling Alison into a hug. "I'm so proud of you two, you're going to make great mothers." She sighed at all she had just learned, this day turning into the longest she had experienced in months. "Wow."

"That's what I said." Spencer replied with a laugh, launching her head down onto the pillow. She was growing tired as the night wore on.

"Who else knows about this?" Aria asked out of curiosity, secretly, she was a little offended it had taken them so long to tell her.

"Mary, Pam, and us." Alison said simply. She couldn't think of anyone else she had told. It felt like it had been years since this all had started, when in reality, it had only been a few days.

Alison felt herself elicit a yawn, signifying that her body was ready to get some sleep. She leaned her head onto Emily's shoulder as the girl stopped conversing with Spencer, and took Ali's hint.

"Alright, we're going back to bed." Emily said, lifting Alison's head off her. "It looks like this new mom needs some sleep"

"Night you two." Spencer said cheerfully, letting out a yawn herself, Aria trying to hold it in, but yawning after her.

"Spencer." Aria threw out again, causing Spencer to great from next to her as she had just settled down again.

"Yes, Aria?" She questioned, still not having the heart to deny conversation with her friend.

"You don't think A.D. will try and hurt the twins, do you?" Aria asked warily, now all she could think about was the two new lives that were mixed up in this mess. "They deserve to have normal lives."

Spencer had considered this quite a bit as well. She had worried about the lives of her future little cousins, and swore she wouldn't let anybody touch a hair on their head. "If A.D. wants those babies, they'll have to get through me first."

Aria nodded, content with that answer, and looked over to see what Spencer was thinking. She found that the girl had finally fallen asleep, and decided to do same.

* * *

The next morning, Alison and Emily woke up after an actual peaceful night of sleep. Alison was spooned in Emily's arms, savoring the warmth of her girlfriend. She murmured lightly, "Morning Em."

Emily tightened her grip on Alison, planting a soft kiss on the side of her neck. "Morning Baby."

Alison's head fell back down onto the pillow groaning, "I wish we could lay here forever."

"I know." Emily responded, humming lightly. She gave Alison a small smile. "But we have to get the day started, you know we do." Emily had always been the morning person of the couple, whereas Alison could sleep until noon if Emily let her.

"Just five more minutes?" Alison groaned, rolling over again.

Emily thought of a way to get Alison up and moving, and had a small brainstorm. "Well.." She began, sitting up. "You can lie here for five more minutes, and I'll go cook us some breakfast."

That was all Alison needed to hear, and Emily laughed at her reaction to the thought of her in front of a stove. She shot up, brushing the hair out of her eyes, and throwing on a sensible shirt. "I'll make the breakfast."

The two came down the stairs, running into Spencer and Aria on their way down.

"What do you want for breakfast this morning?" Spencer asked kindly, "You cooked the casserole for us last night, so breakfast is on me."

Alison thought for awhile, but came to her decision finally, her pregnancy cravings kicking in. "French toast, definitely French toast."

The girls all laughed at Alison's stomach taking control of her mouth, the woman now licking her lips hungrily. She was just happy she wouldn't have to do the cooking for once. Emily always insisted on it, and she knew the swimmer meant well, but the girl really couldn't cook.

"French toast it is." Spencer said with a smile, "Aria, you can help me. Let them rest."

When they got down to the kitchen, Alison sat down into a kitchen chair, not looking elsewhere before doing so. It was the other three, however, that noticed the mysterious figure standing in the kitchen.

On instinct, Emily grabbed a knife from the counter, willing to protect her friends, and future children. "Show yourself, or I'll use this knife!" She shook out wildly.

With this, Alison looked up from the table, jumping up from her seat in fear. She cowered behind Spencer, fearing for her girlfriend who was standing dangerously close to the shadow. Said shadow had broken into their house, was waiting to strike in their kitchen, and she had been blissfully unaware.

The mysterious figure did turn around, shocked at the sudden gesture.

"Jason?" Alison asked in disbelief, holding onto Spencer tightly.

Her brother had disappeared months ago, right after he finished his night shifts at the hospital. One day he just stopped answering calls and texts. He had missed so much, he had missed everything. So why was he back now?

"Ali. I'm so glad to finally be home." Jason said, running up to her and hugging her. He had missed his sister after all this time. "I need to talk to you, urgently. I've been waiting for all of you." He continued, addressing the other girls now as well. He seemed oddly calm at seeing them all walk out together.

"Wait, so you waited in our house, for us to wake up, so you could talk to us? Jason, why didn't you call?" Emily said somewhat frustrated at the man's way of doing things.

"When did this become _your_ house?" Jason asked suspiciously.

Alison stood in front of her girlfriend, fuming at the way her brother was treating Emily, "This is her house, because she moved in."

"And what exactly, is it, you need us so urgently for?" Emily asked, stepping in front of Alison now. It seemed as if the girls were taking turns at defending each other, and Spencer and Aria watched in astonishment. Emily didn't care if Jason was her brother, he had hurt Alison, and left her alone.

"You can turn off your protective girlfriend attitude, Emily." Jason said, rolling his eyes. "I'm back because I finally found what I've been looking for." He explained, shuffling paperwork in his hands. The girls hadn't yet noticed the papers, but were curious to his reasoning.

"Maybe we should call Mary… she's just as involved in this as we are." Spencer suggested, assuming Jason was referring to the A.D. situation. She didn't want Mary being ghosted out of this process.

Jason sighed out in disgust, "Why would we call Mary?"

Spencer knew how Jason felt about the woman, but thought he might've matured, moved on from past experiences. So many things had happened, but he still held a grudge. "Why wouldn't we call Mary?"

"You want to call Mary, to talk about the evidence against her?" Jason asked, not sure if the girl was understanding. "When did you all become friendly with the crazy woman?"

Alison and Spencer looked at him, neither knew what to respond. Jason had missed everything, he didn't know about what Jessica had done to her, about how she was Spencer's mother, he knew nothing. He still thought she was the enemy.

"Hold on, you came back to blame Mary for all of this?" It was Spencer who finally spoke to Jason, disbelief sinking in.

"Who else?" The man asked, still not seeing how the girls were misunderstanding this.

"I don't know… someone that's preferably not my innocent mother?" Spencer snapped back at him before anyone else could. How dare he come back after all this time, unannounced, and just start throwing blame?

"Did you just say 'innocent' and 'mother'?" Jason asked, again left in shock. "What the hell did I miss?"

"Everything. You missed everything because you weren't here being the brother you're supposed to be." Alison snapped, shaking as she stepped back next to Emily, tears forming in her eyes.

"You know who was here? Mary. And now you're back claiming she did god knows what." Spencer finished the argument that Alison was too afraid to continue. Aria held onto her shoulder, rubbing it softly, trying to calm her down.

"Hello girls!" Mary said cheerfully strolling into the house. "How did the conversation with Pam -" She stopped mid-sentence, upon seeing the group all standing around Jason.

"Hello." Jason said, turning to the woman with a deep smile that Mary could tell meant the exact opposite of happiness. "Aunt Mary, it's been so long since I've last seen you!"

Alison took a deep sigh, realizing this was about to turn into a full on catastrophe. Her heart sank, wishing Jason wouldn't of come back, that things could've just stayed normal. She knew her aunt meant the best, but the woman really did have the worst timing.

"The conversation with Pam went great!" Alison confirmed before Mary could reply, trying to pretend like Jason wasn't in the room. She turned to Emily for some sort of assistance, "She's excited for us, and really supportive." Emily figured out what she was doing, and decided to play along.

"Always has been, she's great." Emily said, smiling and proud of her mother. She had really grown to understand and accept her for all of her relationships, even though it started out rocky.

"Can we get back to what I came here for? What I've been gone months gathering?" Jason asked, he didn't care that Mary hadn't replied yet, he only cared that he get his word out, his evidence shared.

"It is nice to see you again Jason, I'm so sorry we had to part so soon all those months ago." She thought for a moment, "Oh wait, you're the one who kicked me out, my mistake." Mary had tried to be nice to him before, but after Alison had told her the truth, she had no respect for her nephew.

"I know what you've done Mary, and I'm going to tell everyone the truth now." Jason threatened, but his words didn't affect her at all. She knew she hadn't done anything, and Jason's words were empty threats.

"Do enlighten me then, because I'm rather curious about what 'evidence' you found against me while you were 'away'." Mary mocked him. She knew Jason was lying because she had seen him at the hospital just a month before, so he couldn't have been gone too long.

Mary shot a look to Spencer, trying to remind her of the conversation they had those weeks ago. Spencer did remember, she remembered that Mary had seen Jason in the hospital, the night after she had woken up from her coma. So how could Jason be away, when he was in the hospital just short of a month ago?

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean." Jason responded innocently. He looked at Mary, who was boiling on the inside, and then to Spencer who looked just as angry. He realized he had pushed multiple buttons.

"Don't pretend like you don't know, I know you haven't been out of this town." Mary was still gaining leverage on the fight. She had caught him in a lie, and Alison looked over to her, curious on what proof she had.

"Mary, I haven't been in Rosewood in months, I don't know what you're talking about!" Jason yelled out in frustration, turning towards the other girls. "Don't you see she's lying to you?" The man had finally snapped.

"Why would I lie to you? Any of you? I've told you everything, every terrible, disturbing, detail!" Mary said, feeling tears form in her eyes, she looked desperately to her niece, and to her daughter. She wasn't going to have her family torn away from her again, not like this. She was grasping at anything she could now, wishing that this wasn't happening, not now, not when she had just worked so hard to get them back.

"Alright Jason. Let's see what you have before you continue any other accusations." Aria said, trying to be fair to both. Alison agreed, she loved both her aunt and her brother. Thank god they had the tiny girl there as mediator, or else this would've broken out into a fight a while ago.

Spencer however, wasn't having it.

"I don't even care. I don't care because the past is the past so whatever it is, I don't need to know." Spencer said, even though she was curious. She stood next to her mother, unwilling to be apart of this.

Mary offered her a small smile, her daughter was always loyal to her, no matter what.

"I have proof, proof she stole the Carissimi Group money." Jason said finally, passing Emily the papers he had been shuffling in his hands for minutes now.

"I'm telling you, I didn't steal that money!" Mary argued again. "Archer stole it all, even my share, and took off running to wherever." She still hated to even say his name, it felt disgusting to even think of him. She could see the pain in Alison's eyes as he was mentioned, Emily held onto her tighter, showing her the papers.

"That's true." Jason admitted. "But you're leaving out one important detail. "You murdered him, and switched the funds, that he stole, to be given to you, your name is signed on the document."

Mary felt tears flowing down her face, tears of anger, tears of sadness. "I would never steal from any charity, or from you, Alison."

Alison wasn't sure at this point, she looked between Mary, the paper, her brother. What good reason did Jason have to lie? She had the signature right in front of her, she had seen Mary's barely legible handwriting many times before, and it looked exactly the same. She hated to even think Mary was responsible, but she had her doubts.

"Oh come on! This isn't even good acting! Tell me you see through this!" Jason argued again, breaking into Alison's thoughts. "I have all the evidence right here!"

Emily looked to Alison, trying to see how she was reacting to the information she had been given. The girl looked pale, sick to her stomach. She was going to have to choose between her brother, who she had known all her life, and her aunt, who she had known for barely a month. Her aunt, who had worked with her evil husband, had pretended to be her dead mother, had locked her up in an insane asylum.

Mary didn't even acknowledge what he was saying, or notice the stares from the girls. She wasn't sure how he had gotten her signature on the document, wasn't sure how this was working on the girls. But she was sure of one thing, she hadn't been the one to kill him. "I don't know how you got the papers you did, but I definitely don't have any money, and I definitely didn't kill that son of a bitch." She finished, wiping her tears.

Of course, the girls knew the murder part was true, because they had been the ones to kill him, but they couldn't tell Jason that.

"You do have the money, and you're waiting to take advantage of Alison and then run with all of her money too." Jason said, now fuming. "And I'm not going to let you." Alison looked at her brother, she didn't know what to believe.

"Trust me, if I had money I wouldn't be living in the rotted dump that is the Lost Woods, and I definitely wouldn't be living paycheck to paycheck." Mary said, she hated having to admit that, not in front of everyone she cared about the most. It wasn't something she was proud of, but it came out in the moment.

"Aunt Mary… why didn't you tell me?" Alison asked, she felt a deep feeling of pity settle in her stomach. She had been eating nice warm meals, and making casseroles for Spencer and Aria, while Mary had been living off nothing.

"This is exactly what she wants! To make you feel bad for her, that's how she's going to manipulate you!" Jason was trying his hardest to make the girls see what they were obviously missing.

"I don't want pity. If I wanted pity I would've mentioned that a long time ago." Mary said, she hated having Jason on her back, attacking everything she said and did.

"God. She's insane, and you all are blind to it!" Jason was about done with this conversation.

Mary flinched when he said the word insane, not like she hadn't heard it before. It still hurt, it cut her deep hearing Jason say it. Alison flinched as well, but she wasn't about to step forward and say anything about it, she wasn't about to take sides.

Spencer stepped forward, moving in on him. "Don't call her that!" She hated him for coming in and acting like he was in charge. She hated the other girls for not speaking out against him, she hated that Alison wasn't fighting back against her brother, who was obviously lying.

"Let's not go placing blame, Jason. I know what you did to your sister." Mary shot back, finally being brave enough to go on offense.

Alison shot Mary a look, she had promised not to tell anyone what Alison confessed to her that day at Jessica's grave. "Aunt Mary…" She said warningly, but it seemed as if Mary didn't even acknowledge her words.

"And what's that?" Jason asked flippantly, "It's your turn to enlighten me."

"That you used to hit her." Mary snapped out finally, rage taking over her ability to make the right decisions. She hated Jason for what he did to Alison, hated him for coming back and trying to make her look like the villain, after she had worked so hard to prove she was the exact opposite.

"Aunt Mary" Alison was the one to snap now, she had had enough with this. Once the woman started bringing her personal information, her secrets, into this, it was enough. "I think you need to go." She tried to remain calm while kicking the woman out of her house.

Mary looked up at her niece, the girl she had held so dear, and she realized. "You don't believe me, you really believe him?" She looked at Emily, then to Spencer, pleading one of them to back her up, one of them to help her, but not one of them spoke up.

"I don't know what to believe." Alison replied solemnly, not bearing to look at her aunt anymore. "But I think it's best, if you just go."

Mary nodded, accepting defeat, accepting that nobody believed her. She was shocked, but she understood, the proof was pretty compelling. The only thing she could do now, was respect Alison's wishes, and try to clear her own name. "Fine, I'll go." Mary gave in reluctantly, moving past Jason now, "I'm so close to figuring you out, it's only a matter of time now" She whispered to her nephew menacingly, before walking out the door.

Spencer watched painfully as Mary walked out the door, she couldn't believe this had happened, that Alison had let this happen.

"That woman really is nuts." Jason muttered to himself, happy he had gotten back in time to stop her. He loved Alison, but she was really gullible when it came to family members.

"Her mental health is besides the point." Spencer snapped, seeing that no one else was going to stick up for Mary.

"You're right, Spencer. The point is, I have proof she did this, and I'm bringing it to the police" Jason replied with a smirk, still proud of himself for finding the evidence he needed.

"You can't, Jason. Please, you can't turn her in, not yet…" Spencer moved forward now, tears forming in her eyes. "Give her a little bit longer, please, she's my mother, I need a little bit longer with her." Spencer was making up any excuse, any ploy, to get them more time, to prove the woman's innocence.

"Fine, I'll give her another twenty four hours, only for you Spencer." Jason said, wondering when he had become so lenient.

"Thank you." Spencer nodded, knowing she had no time to waste. No one else would help her mother, so she knew she had to. She almost stormed out of the house in pajamas, before realizing that she had to go upstairs and change.

Alison stormed up the stairs behind Spencer, trying desperately to get a moment alone with her. Spencer didn't even want to look at Alison, much less talk to her.

"Spencer, please…" Alison begged, wanting the girl to just give her a chance.

"What do you want, Alison?" Spencer snapped, "Here to apologize for not defending Mary?"

Alison's eyes darted around the room guiltily. She hadn't felt great about not speaking up for her aunt, but the woman had really made her angry when she brought up Jason. "I guess." Alison confessed miserably.

"Well I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." Spencer said bitterly, changing her shirt. "Mary is."

Alison looked at Spencer miserably, "I can't, not while Jason -"

Spencer cut Alison off, realizing now why Alison hadn't spoken up. "You really are afraid of him."

"I'm not afraid of him." Alison shook out harshly, she wouldn't let Spencer believe that.

"So then why didn't you stand up for her? It's clear whose side you're on when you're not scared to admit it." Spencer pointed out to the younger girl, waiting for Alison's response that never came.

Alison just sat down at the edge of the bed, feeling terrible about the whole situation. She didn't know what to say.

"My god, he really did hit you." Spencer realized that Mary had been telling the truth after all. "Alison why did you never tell me, Emily, any of us?"

Alison considered this, if only she had spoken up sooner. "I was young, and stupid, and afraid."

Spencer grabbed her hand, "And you don't have to be afraid anymore, just stand up to him!"

Alison wasn't sure about that, it didn't sound like a good idea. Jason never liked when she stood up to him. "I don't know Spencer, I think I need to think about it for a while. I need some space." She decided finally.

Spencer knew how much admitting that meant to Alison, and decided to let her have her time to think. "Alright, if you promise me you'll think about it, and talk to Emily about it, I'll give you space."

Alison nodded, not sure what to say besides, "Thank you."

Spencer gave her cousin one last hug, quietly going over all the different ways she could murder Jason in her head. "I have to go now, I'm going to get Mary out of jail."

"You are?" Alison asked curiously, "How?"

"I have a few ideas." Spencer smirked, turning back and shooting Alison one last smile before walking out the bedroom door.

She sauntered down the stairs, looking over at Emily and Jason deep in conversation. She marched over, breaking into the conversation, and smacked the man in the face, before turning back and walking out the door, leaving the two in shock.

* * *

Mary slammed the door behind her, collapsing onto her bed in tears. How had this happened, how had her family turned on her so quickly? This wasn't happening, she couldn't believe it.

She had given up, Alison believed Jason over her, Emily always followed Alison, Aria hated her from the beginning. Mary wasn't sure what side Spencer was on, but her daughter had shown loyalty earlier, so she kept her hopes high.

In a matter of time, the police would come knocking on her door to take her away for the rest of her life, for murder and money embezzlement she didn't commit.

It was hopeless, her life was hopeless. It was all falling down before her very eyes, and there was nothing she could do about it. She didn't know where she could go to find evidence to clear her name, who she could turn to with her theory about Jason.

Mary heard a knock at her door. "I don't care if you're here to apologize, I just want to be left alone for the rest of the time I have as a free woman!"

A voice that fit the brisk knock came from the other end, "Don't be ridiculous, you know I don't apologize!" It was Veronica, and her snide response caused Mary to roll her eyes.

Mary sat up from the bed, wondering if just ignoring the woman was an option. "What are my chances of you going away?"

Veronica laughed, "Not very likely."

Mary sighed, realizing that she might as well let the woman in if she wasn't going to go away. She opened the door, finding Veronica in her normal refined business wear. "Why do you always feel the need to come at the worst times?"

"Funny, I always seem to catch you while you're crying." Veronica replied, walking in without being invited.

"Isn't there some place else you'd rather be?" Mary asked, she didn't see why Veronica was wasting her time.

"This might surprise you, but I'm not a very busy woman, especially now that my house is burned down and my business has gone to shit." Veronica said flippantly, smoothing the bed covers as she sat down.

"Well I'm going to jail, so don't we all have problems?" Mary replied, sitting down on the bed next to her. She didn't want to hear Veronica's complaining.

"So what did you do this time? Broke someone's heart? Stabbed someone in the heart? Maybe robbed a bank?" Veronica remarked. She noticed it struck a nerve with Mary, "My jokes are not appreciated I see."

Mary looked at Veronica seriously, trying to forget about the joke entirely. "Jason is back, he has some papers, that make it look like I killed Archer Dunhill and stole all the Carissimi group money."

"And did you?" Veronica asked seriously, even though Mary looked at her like she was joking.

"That's almost as funny as you thinking I'd break someone's heart." Mary muttered under her breath.

"What's so funny about that?" Veronica argued, not seeing anything wrong with the statement.

"Well, there aren't many available women around here." Mary responded, grimacing at the thought of trying to find available women her age, it was nearly impossible. "And if you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly an easy person to love." She knew she would never experience that kind of love with anyone in her life, that point in time was over for her.

"I've noticed." Veronica muttered under her breath, causing Mary to look up at her curiously. "You're extremely difficult, sarcastic, and very emotional." She said a little louder, trying to cover what she had just insinuated.

"And insane." Mary added on. "You forgot insane."

Veronica looked at Mary, trying to see past the cold hard front she put on, the facade she was trying to hide behind. "I wasn't going to say insane"

Mary didn't know what to say to her, so instead, she answered her original question. "No, I didn't kill Archer, and I didn't steal any money, from anyone." She felt miserable. "Of course, no one believes me, and Jason is going to the police."

Veronica thought for a moment, "Well, if you need a lawyer, I think I know a good one."

This caused Mary to laugh, looking at the woman with appreciation. "You'd really help me? I find that unlikely."

"For one thing, I believe you, even if no one else does. I don't think you have one harmful bone in your body." Veronica admitted finally, "For another thing, my business is failing, so I'll take any hopeless case I can get."

Mary scoffed, "I don't know whether to be thankful for you offering your services, or pissed for you making that comment."

Veronica laughed, "Be thankful."

Mary nodded, giving her silent thanks. No way in hell would she ever actually say the words 'thank you' to Veronica Hastings, ever.

"Well, if you want to be alone for your last hours of freedom, I'll let you be alone." Veronica said, giving into Mary's wishes. She felt terrible about the situation Mary was in, wishing she could do more to help her.

"Wait." Mary stood up behind Veronica, grabbing onto her hand to stop her from leaving. "When I go to jail, you can stay here as long as you want, until they turn the utilities off at least."

Veronica couldn't believe how selfless Mary was. The woman was going to jail, and she was only worried about where she, the woman who had hurt her, would stay after the Lost Woods went un-cared for. "Don't worry about it, I always figure something out."

"I know you do." Mary confirmed, looking at Veronica again. The woman looked at her with pity in her eyes, a look she was familiar with by now.

"Please, don't look at me like that." Mary begged, letting go of Veronica's hand that she hadn't realized she was still holding.

"Like what?" Veronica asked curiously, trying to reach for her hand again, but Mary moved farther away.

"Everybody always looks at me like I'm a small child, like I need their help." Mary explained, "Just because I've been through some things, doesn't mean I need pity, from anyone."

"Trust me." Veronica began, "I'm the last person to ever give you any pity."

"But you did, just now, just for a split second. I saw it in your eyes, as if you felt for me, if only for a moment." Mary confronted the woman, waiting for her reaction.

"So what if I did?" Veronica felt as if she was being tested for her feelings now, "So what if I care about you from time to time, what are you going to do about it?"

"What do you want me to do about it?" Mary posed the question angrily, her breath hitching in her throat as Veronica stepped closer to her.

"I think you already know." Veronica responded equally exhausted with having to play this game over and over again.

"I hate you, Veronica Hastings." Mary breathed out, seeing how her emotions were being messed with yet again. "You know how I feel about you and yet you continue to play these games with me, why?"

"We're playing games with each other, Mary." Veronica said, feeling tears form in her eyes. She would not cry in front of Mary, she would not allow herself.

"So then why can't we just stop?" Mary yelled out finally, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "Just this once."

Veronica looked at Mary, dumbstruck. Her mind racing with so many different thoughts, so many different things she wanted to say in that moment. But her mind wouldn't work with her mouth, and no words came out.

"I'm not just the emotionally unstable woman you get to treat like a piece of plastic when you're bored, Veronica. I am more than that, I am so much more." Mary spat out, tears pricking at her eyes. "You don't just get to stroll in and say you care about me, when I know tomorrow you'll be back to demeaning me. I don't deserve that, no one deserves that."

Veronica closed her eyes, trying to muster up the remaining strength she had left. "Mary, I -"

All of a sudden, the door to the cabin burst open and in came running the young girl who both women knew as their daughter.

"Spencer?" Mary asked, distancing herself from Veronica hastily. She wiped her tears away, so that her view of her daughter was a clear one.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" Spencer asked, looking between the two with raised eyebrows.

"No."

"Oh god no."

Both Mary and Veronica spoke immediately against Spencer's theory. They looked between each other, and back to Spencer.

"Veronica was just leaving." Mary informed Spencer with a smile, turning towards Veronica and giving her a telling look. She still hated the woman for whatever she was trying to pull, anger pulsing through her.

"That's right, I was." Veronica nodded, feeling a little disappointed she didn't get to say what she wanted to. She grabbed her coat and headed towards the door. She turned back for a moment, giving Mary a knowing smile, "Good luck."

With that, the woman was gone, and Spencer was more confused than ever. She didn't have time to question it though, the only thing she had time for right now, was getting down to the bottom of this document.

"Spencer, what are you doing here?" Mary posed the question finally, looking now to her daughter, who was rummaging through her purse.

Spencer looked up, retrieving a small card and waving it triumphantly in the air. "I'm getting you out of jail."

"What?" Mary questioned suspiciously, she stood up now and moved to look at the card in Spencer's hand. "'Get out of jail free card?'" Mary observed the phone number as Spencer began to dial it.

"I took my turn in the game, last night." She began to explain. "I landed on a reward square and it gave me this, I was wondering when I might need to use it."

Mary took the card from her now, surveying it closely. "And you think I'm the right person to use it on?"

Spencer took the card back from her, "Why wouldn't you be?"

"Because." Mary sighed, "What if you need it later on, down the road somewhere?" She didn't want Spencer wasting her chance at freedom on some stupid document that might send her to jail. Mary knew A.D's tricks were ruthless, and she didn't want Spencer to make the wrong decision.

"That's a chance I'm going to have to take." Spencer said solemnly, she didn't care, she was using this to help her mother. "Now, are you all in, or not?"

Mary weighed her options for a moment, knowing this might be her only chance. She also figured Spencer wasn't giving up on this, so she made her decision. "I'm all in, call the number."

Spencer did just that, she put it on speaker so that Mary could hear it as well. They waited for awhile, their hearts racing as each ring led to another. What if no one answered? Then what? Despite being tricky, Spencer knew A.D. wouldn't just give her a fake number.

So when the line connected, Spencer's breath hitched in her throat.

 _"Hello, this is Diane from the Carissimi Group, how may I help you?"_ A sweet southern accented voice came from the other end of the line.

Spencer looked to Mary, unsure of what to say. Mary gave her a nod, as if to say, 'say something, say anything!'

Spencer cleared her throat, "Hello Diane, my name is Spencer Hastings, and I'm calling to see if I could access some pre-existing paperwork from one of your offices?"

Mary smiled proudly, her daughter was great at this sort of thing.

 _"Well, Spencer, that would depend on the kind of document you're looking for. Some of it is classified material."_ Diane responded from the other end of the line.

"The documents I'm looking for, specifically, are involving a transfer of funds from one benefactor to another, do you think you could help me with that?" Spencer replied, holding her breath and praying she had said the right thing, praying Diane could help her.

" _As long as you know at least one of the names of the parties involved, I can help you out right away!_ " Diane said cheerfully, she struck Spencer as one of those women who loved their job a little too much. " _Can you give me a name?_ "

Spencer considered this for a moment, looking to Mary who nodded, encouraging her to give Dunhill's name. Spencer however, decided against it. "Diane, if you don't mind, I think I'd rather do this in person, so I can see the papers myself."

" _No problem, Spencer. You can come down to the office later today and I'll help you right out._ " Diane responded with a tiny chuckle, " _Does one o'clock work for you?_ "

Spencer was relieved this plan was coming together, "Yes, one is perfect for me." She stopped for a moment, "Is it alright if I bring my mother along, she's the one actually looking for the documents."

" _Not a problem Spencer._ " Diane reassured her, " _See you both at one!_ "

The line disconnected, and both women took a sigh of relief, knowing that it had gone over alright. Spencer flopped down onto the bed, wiping sweat off her brow. "That was exhilarating." She murmured with a smile.

"I was nervous just watching you do it." Mary sighed out in disbelief, "You work extremely well under pressure."

"Don't ask me how, I've always been horrible at it." Spencer replied, looking at Mary, who seemed to be pondering something. "Mom, what is it?"

"I was just thinking." Mary began, "You must've learned it from Veronica." She knew she herself was garbage at any sort of lying, but knew that Veronica was great at it.

Spencer noticed some anger Mary held towards her other mother, but it didn't feel right to ask. "Those politicians really know how to weave webs of lies."

"You're going to have to forgive her eventually, Spencer, you know you are." Mary explained to her. "She's just as much your mother as I am, and I think she truly is sorry."

Spencer considered this for a moment, "Have you forgiven her? Because from what I just saw, it doesn't look like it." She looked at Mary with concern, she hadn't seen her mother ever look as upset as she was. Whatever Veronica was doing to her, she wanted to know, she wanted to help her.

Mary sighed, "What you saw, is more complicated than just forgiveness. It's deeper than that."

Spencer was still very confused on the whole situation, and Mary's vague answer didn't offer her any more answers than she originally started with. "If she's hurting you, you need to tell me."

"She's not hurting me, I'm letting her hurt me." Mary replied to her concerned daughter, shaking her head miserably, "Gullible as ever."

Spencer sat up now, looking Mary in the eyes. She hated seeing her upset, but figured that was the least of her problems. "So this isn't just about your impending prison sentence?"

Mary let out a small chuckle, "Not until you reminded me."

"Sorry." Spencer apologized sheepishly. "I didn't mean to make the situation worse, I just…"

"You're confused." Mary finished her sentence, realizing that she hadn't given her daughter many answers. "And I promise you, when we're out of this mess, I'll tell you everything."

Spencer nodded, content with this answer. "Fair enough." She knew she couldn't be told everything, not all at once, not with all this going on. She understood that Mary was overwhelmed, that she had to deal with one problem at a time, she just wished she could help her somehow.

* * *

Once Aria had gone home, and Alison had hibernated upstairs to think about her options, Emily and Jason were left to each other's company. Emily wasn't happy about Jason's attitude, how willing he was to jump the shark, so a part of her was happy that Spencer had slapped him.

"So," Jason began. "You're living here now?" He was holding an ice pack to his face, an ice pack Emily had brought him kindly.

Emily looked up from the coffee mug she had been twiddling in her hands. "Yeah, I'm all moved in." She finished with a proud smile.

"Spencer's living here too?" He asked the swimmer once again, looking around the house to see the minor changes that had been made since he last saw it.

"Well, her house burned down, so we couldn't just let her live on the streets." Emily snapped back at him, not liking his attitude towards the situation. She felt like she was being tested, in her own house.

"No need to have an attitude, just curious about what I've missed in my sister's life." Jason said, not trying to anger Emily. Deep down, he had a sisterly affection for the girl, she had always been there for Alison, even when no one else was.

"And you wouldn't have missed it, if you weren't so hell bent on revenge!" Emily yelled out finally, letting all of her pent up anger towards the man out finally. "If you would've cared more about your sister, and less about pinning everything on Mary, maybe you wouldn't have missed the most important parts of her life!"

Jason blinked back the shock at the girl raising her voice. Emily was never one to really snap, unless she was really bothered. He knew he had messed up, "I'm sorry, I missed her coming out, I missed finding out she was pregnant, I missed everything."

Emily felt a strange sense of confusion overwhelm her, realizing something was off. "How do you know about that?"

"Know about what?" Jason asked, just as confused, "Know that my sister came out? It's fairly obvious, considering you're moved in here -"

"No," Emily stopped him, narrowing her eyes at the older man. "How did you know she's pregnant?" She and Alison hadn't told anybody besides Mary, Pam, and the girls. She knew for sure that they hadn't told Jason, Alison hadn't even been in contact with Jason, so why would she have told him?

"It's obvious." Jason said, his voice not wavering. "She's three times her size, obviously hormonal, and she ate five pieces of french toast for breakfast."

"Four." Emily corrected him, thinking about the breakfast Alison had to make for herself yet again. "And she's only a month pregnant, so, no, she's not 'three times her size,' and she's not more hormonal than usual!" She had no intent on hiding her suspicion now. "What's the real reason you came back Jason?"

"To prove to you, to all of you, that Mary is not the person she pretends to be!" He yelled out in frustration, "I've been trying to tell you all along!"

Emily didn't know what that meant, and she didn't care, she was done with all of the chaos Jason had caused. "I think it's your turn to leave." She said passive aggressively, "And don't even think, about bothering Mary and Spencer for the next twenty four hours."

Jason smirked, entirely content with how the conversation had gone. "I wouldn't dream of it."

With that, the man was gone, and with him, Emily's sense of security. Jason was up to something, and she hated that it took her this long to realize it. This conversation left her unnerved, and she didn't care if he was her brother in-law or not, she had to tell Alison what she had just learned, how she felt. She would always be honest with Alison, no matter what the situation.

That's when she remembered, Alison was still upstairs. She climbed up the steps to peek into their bedroom, and didn't find her girlfriend anywhere. "Ali?" She called out, moving to the next guest bedroom, panicking as she tore through closets and bathrooms, pulling apart everything she could find. "Alison!" She yelled out again, she couldn't lose Ali, not now, not here, not this close to her happy ending with her.

Emily panicked, where could she have gone in the hour she was talking to Jason? She should've gone to check on her earlier, shouldn't of gotten distracted. Shouldn't of let Jason distract her. Jason must've been involved, and now she wished she wouldn't of let him walk out of the house. She screamed out, "Goddamnit!"

She ran to grab her phone, dialing Spencer's phone vigorously, praying that with each ring she would pick up, but she didn't, it went to voicemail. She threw her phone down, not knowing what to do at this point. She picked up her phone and dialed Aria's number, her hand shaking.

Aria picked up the phone, " _Em?_ "

Emily was shaking, tears flowing down her face, "Ali, she's missing. I left her upstairs while I was talking to Jason. And, and, now I think he's responsible, because he was sketchy as hell, and now she's gone, and Spencer's not answering, and I can't find her anywhere!"

Aria could barely process all this information, " _Emily, calm down, I'll be right over, and then we can try and call Spencer again._ "

"Aria, what am I gonna do? Should we call the police? I don't want her to get hurt, I don't want the baby to get hurt? What if they're hurting her?" Emily was stuttering now, not even hearing the soothing words Aria was trying to deliver.

" _Emily, listen to me, don't call the police._ " Aria said in a calming voice, " _We'll figure this out._ "

"No offense." Emily snapped out now, "But we're garbage at doing or solving anything, without Spencer, and she's not answering."

Aria was silent for a moment, thinking about their next move. " _That's why we're calling in our Plan B._ "

Emily wiped at her tears, her hand had stopped shaking a little upon hearing the tiny girl's confidence. "Plan B?"

" _The next smartest person I know._ " Aria said, smirking from the other side of the phone, as much as she hated to admit it, she was their best option.

" _Mona._ "

"Mona."

Both girls said the name at once, and Aria disconnected the line, leaving Emily to her thoughts. They were horrible thoughts, all of the worst possible scenarios running through her head. A.D. was horrible, but they wouldn't hurt a pregnant woman, wouldn't hurt an innocent life growing inside her. But yet, the images still flashed through Emily's mind of all she had been put through in the Dollhouse, the extent Charlotte was willing to go, who knew what this person would be capable of?

"I'll find you Ali, I promise."

* * *

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Mary asked Spencer, turning to look back at the front door of the Carissimi Group office. She didn't like the looks of the place, something was off about it. Of course, most places looked off to her, considering she had lived in the familiar streets of London for so long.

"It's going to be fine." Spencer reassured the woman, although she wasn't quite sure herself. "We've gone too far to back out now."

Mary nodded, swallowing her fear. "You're right, and extremely brave, another thing you didn't get from me."

Spencer took her mother's hand, "That's ridiculous, you're the bravest person I know." Mary smiled at her, really appreciating the compliment. Spencer looked up at the sign one last time. "Let's not keep Diane waiting."

"Diane's the least menacing thing about this place." Mary said with a shudder after they were finally inside the building. She looked around at the nearly abandoned waiting room, searching for any sign of intelligent life. No one was sitting behind the front desk, nobody sitting in the waiting room chairs.

"Well, I sure do appreciate that." Came the sweet southern accent that both women had recognized over the phone. "And you must be the mother I heard all about."

Alarmed, but still trying to keep her manners, Mary spoke in reply. "Yes, I am."

"Nice to meet you…" Diane stopped mid-sentence, having not obtained Mary's name yet.

"Mary." She answered the unspoken question politely, feeling a little more comfortable in the surrounding area. While she had been distracted in conversation with Diane, Spencer had done a little more surveillance, never sure who or what she could trust. But the place seemed to check out, it appeared normal aside from lack of people.

"Well nice to meet you Mary, and nice to talk to you again, Spencer." The woman said, breaking Spencer out of her thoughts. She extended a hand, and Spencer shook it with a warm smile.

"Why is it so empty in here?" Spencer asked on impulse, realizing it might be rude. "If you don't mind me asking?"

"Well, to be honest, Spencer." Diane began, looking a little upset. "We've been running very low on business lately, ever since one of our benefactor's money was stolen."

Spencer and Mary shot a silent glance at one another, had the woman already figured out about their involvement?

"Yes, I heard about that… it's very unfortunate." Spencer said with a solemn smile. "I only hope you'll be able to figure out who's behind it all, and get the money back."

Diane inspected the two again, as if she was as hesitant about them as they were about her. "Now then, let me lead you to our archive rooms, and we'll see what we can find to help you out."

The woman led Spencer and Mary down a brightly lit hallway, passing multiple offices on the way. Spencer tried to make a mental note of the names in case she might need them later, her tensions still running high. They came to a staircase eventually, with the opposite brightness of the hallway. Diane turned on a flashlight, handing it to Spencer who shone it down the ominous staircase.

"Are you serious? We have to go down there?" Spencer asked, looking from Mary, to Diane, and back down the stairs. She had had a fear of dark, cramped spaces for as long as she could remember.

"I know, our archive room isn't the friendliest looking place, but there's a light switch once we get down there." Diane said, trying to reassure her customers.

Mary looked at Spencer hesitantly, but Spencer ignored her instincts, and made her way down into the stairs, shining the flashlight as far as she could so the other two wouldn't fall. They would go down there, find the papers, and get out, as quickly as possible. Spencer was beginning to think that Mary was right to suggest not coming in here.

As soon as they reached the bottom, Diane flicked on the lights, illuminating a room full of file cabinets. "This is the place." She said proudly, as if showing off her best creation, "It's arranged in alphabetical order, so if you just give me the last name of the person you're looking for…"

Spencer wasn't sure which name Dunhill had gone by for the time being. "The man in question, he was going by a different name at the time, so there's two different possibilities."

"Rollins, was the name he was going by at the time. Dunhill, was his actual name." Mary informed Diane, before she could ask any further questions.

Diane moved to the 'P-T' section of the file cabinets, rummaging through them for a bit before starting conversation to fill the tense silence between them. "You said, 'was,' is this man, departed?" She asked curiously.

Spencer wasn't sure what to respond, "Yes, he is. Sadly departed from our world onto the next." Her strategy was to play a grieving family member, in hopes she might win the sympathy vote. Mary seemed to catch onto her plan, adjusting quickly.

"He was a good man, we were close." Mary added on, sorrow resounding through her words. If there was one thing she knew how to do, it was how to sound sad, she had been doing it all her life.

Apparently this was convincing enough for Diane, who continued to rustle through files. "What was he to y'all? If you don't mind me asking."

Spencer shot a look to Mary, depending on what the woman found in those files, she would find out his age, and possibly other details, so she decided to tell the truth. "He was my brother in-law." She spit out finally, and Mary shot her a smile for her quick thinking. "My sister loved him very much." It pained her to say the words.

"Why isn't she with y'all?" Diane asked again, and Spencer wished the woman would just shut up and find the file.

"She's pregnant, with his baby, and didn't feel up to coming with us today." Mary responded, Alison was pregnant, and never would've come with them, so it wasn't a complete lie

"That's unfortunate, I'd hate to be in her situation. A pregnant widower, how about that?" Diane remarked, hopefully deciding she was done with conversation for now.

Spencer sighed in relief, sitting back against one of the empty desks now. She was done with all of this, she just wanted her proof, and she wanted out of this building. Diane stepped back from the file cabinet now, "It's not under Rollins, so, I'll look under Dunhill."

"Thank you." Mary replied to the woman, seeing that Spencer was at her wits end. If she had to carry this operation, she would.

"So, Spencer and Mary Hastings, huh?" Diane started again, and Spencer moved forward, intent on looking through the file cabinet herself, but Mary pulled her back before she could.

"It's actually more complicated than that." Mary explained with a smile. "She's my biological daughter, and she was adopted, but we found our way back to each other."

Spencer smiled at Mary, admiring that the woman could find kind words towards her in the moment. Mary hadn't given herself enough credit when she said she didn't work well under pressure, Spencer saw that the words flowed out of her in the right moment.

"Now ain't that the sweetest? You two reunited again, after all this time." The woman's smile still never falling from her face. She stopped shuffling through the files when she reached the last name. "Dunhill," She remarked aloud, pulling out the document.

Spencer's eyes lit up, surging forward out of Mary's grasp to survey the file in the woman's hand, her mother close behind her.

"Now hold on." Diane said with a tiny chuckle, "You don't have to bite my hand off, you can have the file." The woman handed Spencer the manila folder, no doubt holding the proof they needed to prove Mary's innocence.

Mary's breath hitched, moving forward to stand next to her daughter, knowing her fate was in the words on this piece of paper. She had never felt more anxious in her life, "Open it." She shook out.

Spencer closed her eyes, not thinking she could trust herself to handle the precious document, her hands shaking. "You do it." She insisted, shoving the file into her mother's hands. She could barely stand to look at it. They had been through all of this and now she was too nervous to go through with opening the damn thing.

Mary held the document, "I don't think I can."

Spencer rolled her eyes, "You know, we make a good team. But we're both chickens."

Mary knew her daughter was right, "That's the one thing you did inherit from me."

Spencer took the file back, prepared to open it and finally face the truth after all. She held her breath as her fingers slipped over the flap of the folder.

"Spencer, wait." Mary stopped her, grabbing her arm. "No matter what we see in this file, we don't tell anyone about it, until we're safely back at Alison's house."

Spencer nodded, understanding Mary's concern for their safety. "Agreed."

Looking again to her mother for the okay, Spencer finally slipped open the folder, pulling the piece of paper out. Mary inched in closer to see what the paper read, more importantly, what the signature on the bottom read.

Spencer read the signature, and gasped out, not believing her eyes. "I can't… I can't believe?" She turned around, shock taking over her senses, eager to see what state Mary was in.

To her surprise, her mother wasn't standing behind her anymore. Her instincts kicked in, and she began to panic, the lights flickering in the downstairs archive room. The signature on the papers, now forgotten to her as she looked around frantically for Mary.

"Mom?" Spencer shouted out into the surrounding room that looked more and more like a cold prison the longer she stood in it. "Mary?" She yelled louder, more desperate this time.

She knew she should've listened to her mother, listened to her instincts, as she felt the barrel of a gun, cold against the back of her head. She put her hands up, trying to save her own life.

"I'm sorry Spencer, I really am." Came Diane's southern accent from behind her. It sounded more cold, and harsh, than it had before when it was sweet, and soft.

"So what are you going to do with me now? Kill me, like you did Mary?" Spencer yelled out, pissed that her life was about to end like this. "I can't believe I dealt with your bullshit small talk, in this dirty basement, only to die down here?"

The woman sighed, her hand not wavering, the gun remaining still against her head. "I had to, she blackmailed me." She whispered softly, as if to not be overheard.

Spencer heard her, however, "Who? Who blackmailed you? Who's she?"

"My orders were to hand you over to her, nothing else." Diane said louder now, and Spencer felt the gun removed from the back of her head, before feeling it come cracking down onto her skull. "That, was for the, 'bullshit small talk' comment." A sharp pain took over Spencer's senses, her ears ringing, and vision blurring, as the world faded to darkness.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 **A/N: Ok I feel like I need to start off with a short little message about how sorry I am. This has been way overdue and it's mostly because as most of you may or may not know, my life has been one big shit show for the past couple of months. It's been one bad thing after another and I really can't catch a break, but I finally decided to channel all that negative energy and bad feelings into writing so I could get this done finally.**

 **Thank you so much if you've stuck around for the long wait, to make up for it I've provided you with almost a whole novel's worth of content here, so it should take you a while to read. Thank you to everyone who's messaged me and asked me about my situation or even offered help, your support is what kept me going!**

 **(Also don't mind any typos or grammar errors, I did my best but a girl can only edit so much on her own)**

 **Without further ado, get to reading! I know you've been waiting :)**

* * *

On the dark and stormy night that was the present, a grim fate met multiple people, a grim twist on the end of a grim game. One that had gone too long, one that hadn't gone long enough. If only it had gone longer, maybe a few would've made it out alive, if only…

Alison came limping out of the Radley hotel, her feet had been moving in almost robotic lengths since she had managed to pick herself up off the ground of the Radley roof. She paused and looked frantically for a moment, tears blurring her vision. It took her a minute before setting sights on her girlfriend behind her.

She turned and clutched onto Emily with all her might, finally letting them fall to the ground again, together. She continued to let her tears fall freely, her sobs just mixing with the sound of thunder resounding through the night air.

Aria and Hanna came out next, clutching to each other as well. They moved towards the ambulance, all had suffered multiple cuts and wounds from the ordeal. They too, had their minds fixated on the tragedies of the night. No injury they had obtained physically, could be as severe as the injury left on Alison's heart.

Veronica stood by the entrance, behind police tape, she barely noticed the cluster of girls, but instead, was looking for Spencer and Mary to come out behind them. Upon realizing that wasn't happening, she became panic stricken.

She ran under the tape, not caring what consequences she might face, to a grief stricken Alison, who was held by a sobbing Emily, both women on the ground. "What happened?" She yelled the question to the sobbing women. "Where are they?" They didn't even look at the older woman, her presence not acknowledged. "What happened to Spencer, and, and, Mary?" She shouted out in frustration now.

Neither of the girls said anything, Alison felt the grief emanating from Veronica. "Alison! What the hell happened?" She was at the point of insanity, but Alison couldn't hear her, she couldn't hear any words. All she heard was the ringing of the thunder, and the ringing in her own ears.

Veronica turned as she saw body bags being wheeled out of the Radley, followed by multiple paramedics. Her breath hitched at the sight, two of the women she cared about the most, missing.

Two body bags to match.

Alison buried her head into Emily's shoulder, unable to watch the bags as they went. Veronica however, marched straight over to the paramedics, "Open the bag." She commanded, her strong voice wavering.

"M'am, I really shouldn't…" The woman said, it wasn't protocol. She was never allowed to let ordinary citizens see the victims. This whole interaction might cost her the job.

"I said… open the bag." Veronica stumbled again, the words shaking out. She didn't want to see who the bags held, but had to know, for her own sake.

The paramedic sighed, and closing her eyes, unzipped the first bag so Veronica could survey the victim. She recoiled backwards as she stared in horror at the body of Mary.

The woman had a gunshot between her eyes, her eyes, still open, had glossed over. Veronica suddenly felt like she was going to throw up, tears streaming down her face. That was the body of the woman she had such a conflicted relationship with, the woman she never got to tell the truth to. Mary had died not knowing how much she really loved her.

The paramedic moved to the next bag, with a heavy sigh, she unzipped it. In the bag lay the body of Spencer, no gunshot was visible. She looked at the pale face of her daughter, her dead daughter. The girl was gone, and she never got to truly apologize to her for everything she had said, everything she hadn't said.

"No, no, I can't lose both of them." She sank to the ground, grief fully taking over her senses. She no longer had any capacity of time and space, she was just a being, a being crying on the ground as rain poured over her.

What was happening? This had to be a dream, she couldn't of lost them, not this easily, it wasn't possible. She refused, even though she had seen the bodies with her own eyes, she refused. Who had done this to them? Who was the monster who killed the women she loved in cold blood? She would find them, and kill them, if they weren't dead already.

Veronica sat in shock, so many thoughts racing through her head that she couldn't keep them straight. She felt a tiny hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Aria. The girl extended her hand, offering to help her up. She took it, looking at the girl silently, as she was led over to the other three. She had so many questions for them, but her mouth wouldn't speak. "Who did this?"

"Mary, she did this." Aria spoke finally, her voice raw after not speaking for a while. She watched as the body of her best friend, a girl who had become more than just her best friend, was wheeled away with the body of her murderer.

"What?" Veronica asked, not sure if she had heard Aria correctly, she looked at Emily and Hanna who were trying to convince Alison to stand up off the ground.

"She helped him. And she killed Spencer, would've killed all of us if it wasn't for Alison being pregnant!" Aria explained, spitting the sentence out with venom and tears. "This all happened, because of her!"

Veronica couldn't believe it, couldn't believe that Mary was responsible for this, after all this time. She thought the woman had changed, had gotten better, she trusted that she was no longer insane. "I don't believe it…"

"She even fooled you, I thought you were smarter than this Veronica!" Aria shouted. She had been the only one to see past Mary's facade, after all this time, she still believed the woman was insane, evil, and it turned out that she was right. "If you all would've listened to me, Spencer wouldn't be dead!" She hated them, all of them, for having been so gullible.

Hanna stepped forward holding the tiny but mighty girl back as she lunged forward to try and do who knows what. "Aria, we're all a little upset right now, but you need to calm down."

"Calm down? Calm down? Spencer is dead, because of that psychopath and you want me to calm down?" Aria was raving now, not even Hanna could hold her back for much longer.

"And she's dead, so is Mona, nothing we say now can change anything." Hanna tried to convince the girl calmly, feeling her own tears of anger slip out. She realized now that they hadn't seen Mona's body at the bottom of the stairs when they came down, and assumed she had already been taken care of.

Alison stood up finally, Emily holding her. She could barely stand, clutching onto her stomach as she ran out of her grasp to go throw up in the bushes.

"If she loses those babies, you'll only have yourselves to blame!" Aria shouted again, breaking free of Hanna's grasp, and storming away from the group. She got into her car, driving away as she couldn't stand to look at them any longer. Hanna didn't know what to do, she stood somewhere in between the shell shocked Veronica, the visibly shaken Emily, and the sick Alison.

Veronica couldn't believe this was real, it had to be fake. Had to be a bad dream, or a sick joke. Mary wasn't the villain, she couldn't be responsible for inflicting all this pain on the women she loved. She didn't know what to think, what to feel, her body going completely numb as she crumpled to the ground. One thought playing over and over in her head, This isn't real, this isn't real.

But it was real, and nothing would ever be the same, ever again.

* * *

 _24 Hours Earlier..._

Mona tapped away at the keyboard on her laptop, looking from screen to screen frantically. She didn't want to let the girls down, she still felt she owed it to them to help. Now that Alison was missing, stakes were higher than ever.

"What are you doing? What are you finding?" Emily asked Mona, she was pacing back and forth, her nerves running wild.

"If you remain calm, Emily, it will make this go much faster." Mona said, not looking up from her computer screen.

Aria tried to stop Emily from pacing, holding onto her forearm to steady her. "Mona knows what she's doing."

"I don't doubt that, it's just taking her a long time, time we don't have!" Emily yelled out in frustration, she wasn't really angry at Mona, she was angry at herself for letting Alison out of her sight.

Hanna ran in suddenly, her hair a mess, makeup smudged. She was out of breath, panting heavily as she finally sat down into a chair. "I hopped on the first flight I could, I'm so sorry."

"It doesn't matter now! She and Spencer are both missing and I'm freaking out!" Emily snapped, having another person to center her anger on.

"Spencer isn't missing." Mona pointed out calmly, still typing her different combinations of code. "She's with Mary, so at least she's safe."

"What's going on with Mary?" Hanna asked, having not been there to witness her falling out with Jason in all its glory.

Emily was at her wits ends with all three of them, none of them seeing how dire this situation was. "It's not important, we need to all focus on finding Alison, and getting her back safely!"

Aria forced Emily to sit down next to Hanna on the couch, not willing to watch as her friend singlehandedly destroyed herself emotionally and physically. "Everything is going to be okay, I'm sure Alison is…" she trailed off, not knowing what to say.

Emily snapped her head up, looking Aria square in the face. "Finish that sentence, I dare you."

Mona couldn't be bothered to deal with this, she was the one that was relied on to find Alison by tracking her phone, she didn't have time for the petty nonsense. "Listen, if you all shut up, and sit down I'll be able to think clearly, and it might speed up this process." She snapped finally.

Emily realized the woman was right, she sat down reluctantly, praying that wherever Alison was, she was okay.

* * *

Mary sat back down onto her bed, rummaging through various papers she had managed to retrieve. It was everything she need, all the information she could ever possibly want to pull of their plan.

She was distracted out of her thoughts when she heard a brisk knocking at the door. She tried to ignore it, knowing it wasn't Spencer or Alison, so then what did it really matter? But the knock sounded again, so she reluctantly got up and answered it.

"Veronica, what are you doing here?" She asked when she answered the door and saw the woman standing there. It wasn't like her to just stop by unannounced, or was it? She really wasn't sure but still found this odd.

The woman launched forward, wrapping her arms around Mary's neck and pulling her into a tight hug. "I was so worried, I saw Jason leave and I was scared he had said or done something." She sounded relieved, almost like she cared.

Mary rubbed the woman's back, pulling away finally in order to catch her breath. "I'm fine, I promise you I'm alright." She cupped Veronica's face in her hand, staring the worried woman in her eyes.

"I just, I did some thinking and if you're going to go to jail we don't have much time left and I just wanted to say–"

She cut Veronica off by speaking herself. "Please, don't worry about me, I'll figure a way out of this." She didn't want to get into the whole Jason situation, this conversation could be saved for later, when she wasn't busy.

Veronica shook her head, now interrupting her right back. "Goddammit Mary Drake I've been trying to tell you something for a long time now and you never let me." She shook her head as she realized it was pointless, whenever she worked up the courage to say it she was stopped.

"I'm all ears." Mary said, now realizing she should probably be a little more attentive to Veronica if she wanted to get rid of her. Things really weren't what they seemed and she was still trying to figure it out.

"I'm not good at words, I never have been." Veronica said, feeling tears form in her eyes. She had been trying for so long to just say those three words, but whenever she found the confidence she was shot down one way or another. "But you know that, which is why you're looking at me like that."

"Looking at you like what?" Mary asked, not sure exactly what she meant. She almost rolled her eyes, seeing that Veronica was struggling to fathom whatever she wanted to say.

But the woman didn't say anything, she grabbed the woman by the waist, finally deciding that she was brave enough to do this. If she couldn't say it she could do it, she could prove it.

"Veronica, what are you–?" Mary began to ask but she couldn't continue the question before Veronica's lips were on hers in a passionate embrace. Her eyes widened, immediately realizing she had read this situation very wrong.

Veronica's eyes widened too, it had only taken a moment for her to realize that something was wrong. She had only kissed Mary once before, twenty years ago, but she could still tell that this wasn't her. Her taste, her touch, it wasn't her, either that or she had changed immensely, grown cold and animalistic. This wasn't the woman she had once loved.

She felt as Mary began to push her away, the woman was breathing heavily, her face white as a ghost. "What the hell, Veronica?" She nearly shouted, running her hand over her lips which the woman had just violated. She couldn't believe this had just happened.

"I'm sorry, I just thought–" Veronica began, realizing she had really messed up this time. She never should've stopped by, she never should've done that. She tried to explain herself but found herself muttering frantically under her breath.

"You thought what?" Mary snapped, feeling anger and disgust boil inside of her. She had definitely not signed up for this.

Veronica began to stutter, tears slipping down her face. "I thought you… I thought we..." She became flustered, choking back a sob as she had never cried in front of anyone before, and didn't plan on starting now. Even faced with this abrupt heart break, she couldn't say the words she longed to.

Mary scoffed, "Well you thought wrong." She couldn't believe Veronica had just come into the cabin, kissed her like it was nothing. "It's not like I'm a lesbian." It disgusted her to even say it.

The senator was more confused than ever, "You told me you were, but I guess lying to yourself and me is a good way of getting rid of me." Something had changed, Mary had wanted this, wanted her for so long, and she knew that. The woman had made it fairly obvious without trying to, and she had always found it quite adorable, but now, now something had changed.

Mary realized that she had messed up big time. She should've done her research before she took this on, but she hadn't, and now she had to deal with the consequences, "I just, I can't do this." She stormed out realizing she would need to do major damage control later.

Veronica was left standing in the middle of the cabin, shellshocked at what had just gone down. She looked over to the bed at the paperwork Mary had just been surveying, wondering if that was the reason she was acting differently. She saw a card for Diane at the Carissimi Group, and typed the number into her phone.

This was a start, but she continued looking through the different documents until she found various blueprints and maps from everywhere in town. Whatever was going on, it definitely wasn't good, and Mary was definitely involved, and she was going to figure it out.

First stop; The Carissimi Group.

* * *

When Alison came to, she couldn't see a thing. She tried to open her eyes, realizing that her eyes were already open, and she was just sitting in a darkened room. Sitting, she was sitting in a chair, her arms and legs tied down, hands bound. How had she ended up here? The last things she remembered was sitting upstairs, considering going to Mary, and now she was sitting tied up in, well, she didn't exactly know where she was.

She tried to scream, bile rising in her throat, she quickly learned that there was tape over her mouth. Whoever had put her there really didn't want her screaming or moving around. She prayed that Emily and Jason were okay, and not somewhere in this dark room as well. She heard a low moaning sound, coming from somewhere around her, and did her best to muffle a scream, indicating to whoever it was that she was there.

Spencer, who had just now woken up from whatever drugs she had been given, heard Alison's scream, she could tell it was her cousin's because of its high pitch. She realized Mary must be in the room somewhere as well, and struggled against the ropes that kept her attached to the chair.

Alison meanwhile, had been working to loosen the tape from her mouth, and had succeeded. "Who's in here with me!" She yelled out, realizing that whoever it was still wasn't able to un-secure the tape. "Whoever you are, we're going to get out of this, just stay calm!" She tried to reassure the nameless victim.

All of a sudden, the lights flashed on in the room, blinding both Alison and Spencer momentarily. When Alison's eyes adjusted, she found that there was no other person sitting with her in the room, but she could've sworn she heard somebody. "Where are you? I heard you?"

Spencer could see Alison straight ahead of her, she tried to scream out through her tape, but it was no use. For some reason, she could see Alison, but Alison couldn't see her. She fought against her restraints again, still trying to wrap her head around what she was doing here, why Alison couldn't see her. She looked around the room now, her head having been stuck in one direction. She looked to her right, seeing her mother, tied to a chair next to her, but still unconscious. _"Mary!_ " But the sound came out muffled.

"Don't try and fight it darling, the ropes are strong, stronger than you even." Spencer looked away from her mother and straight ahead to the room Alison was sitting in. She recognized the voice, deep, and as cold as ice.

"Aunt Mary?" Alison asked in disbelief, not trusting her own eyes at this point. She was hallucinating, the drugs hadn't worn off, maybe she had hit her head and gotten a concussion, or this was all a dream.

Spencer looked from the Mary that had just walked into Alison's room, to the Mary that was sitting unconscious next to her, realizing what was happening.

"How did you get your tape off?" The woman snapped, moving forward to survey the girl she had finally managed to hold captive in the room. Her partner had given her no assistance, and drugged, the woman was heavy.

"I'm good with my tongue." Alison snapped back, realization set in that she had been played, played by this woman who had supposedly loved her. "What the hell is going on Mary?" She yelled out in frustration.

Mary stepped forward, pulling a chair forward to sit down in front of Alison, smirking at the thought of Spencer struggling in the next room, but she payed no mind to the one way glass window. "I'm sorry Alison, I really am, but this had to be done." She ripped the tape that was still hanging from Alison's face, causing the girl to yelp out.

Alison shook her head, looking Mary in the eyes, trying to get her to look back. If she could just find the damaged woman underneath all of this, she could get out of here alive. "You wouldn't hurt me, my babies. I know you, you're not this woman." She tried to talk her once beloved aunt out of this. "This isn't the woman I know and love."

"I'm not the woman you know and love, I never have been." Mary said, leaning forward to survey the terror in Alison's eyes. "Charlotte was right, you are gullible." She spat, laughing at the girl's reaction.

Spencer was still fighting against her restraints, trying to scream out through her tape, trying to tell Alison what was really happening, what she was really seeing. She figured out by now that this was a one way glass window, liked the ones used in police stations. She had managed to chew a little of her tape off, she had enough room to speak, but not enough to get it off her mouth completely. She knew that screaming out to Alison wouldn't help anymore, no point in wasting her breath. Not only was the room see proof, it was soundproof as well. She tried to see if her mother was okay instead, _"Mom, mom please wake up!"_ She said as loud as possible, the tape still muffling her voice a little. She prayed hat her mother would wake up, knowing that both of their lives depended on it.

"Why are you doing this?" Alison screamed out to the woman who was supposedly Mary, causing Spencer to look back up at the scene unfolding in front of her. "Who hurt you? What went wrong?" As far as she had known, Mary had been happy, not having any reason to turn on her.

"Nothing went wrong, the plan went accordingly." Mary explained with a devilish smile that sent chills down Alison's spine. "Well except for kissing Veronica Hastings, that definitely wasn't a part of the plan but it was an extra added bonus."

Alison's brow furrowed in confusion as Mary continued as if she had said nothing at all.

"The plan, oh it really was a great one. I got you to trust me, Spencer to trust me, hell, even Veronica to trust me. You opened your homes to me, and I gave her all the information she needed."

Alison heard what she said, realizing that she wasn't the mastermind behind all of this, of course she wasn't. "She? Who's she? Who are you working for? A.D?" Alison asked desperately now, trying to get answers out of the woman.

Mary laughed, sitting back in her chair as she watched the young woman beg for information. "Why would I tell you that?" She was interested to see what response her niece could come up with.

"You're going to kill me, right? I want the truth before you kill me." Alison begged, trying desperately to hold back her tears, not wanting to appear weak in front of the vile woman she had once considered her aunt.

"Actually, you're one of the two who aren't going to die, I made him promise me." Mary informed her with a smirk, they couldn't kill Alison, not while she was pregnant with twins. They might've been villains, but they weren't completely sick.

"Who's the other one, who's not going to die?" Alison asked, feeling sick to her stomach. She prayed that Emily and Spencer were somewhere safe, far away from here, out of reach from this psychopath.

Mary stood up, moving her chair back to it's original place in the room. "You annoy me, Alison. So many questions, and you never stop talking." She rolled her eyes. "Who are you working for? Who hurt you? What went wrong?" She said, mocking the girl's voice, and laughing as she saw rage pulsing through Alison's veins.

"Fuck you." Alison swore out, wishing she was untied so she could wrap her hands around Mary's throat and squeeze until she saw the light draining from behind her eyes.

Mary pulled a switchblade out of her pocket, putting it to Alison's throat and flashing that deranged smile once more.

Spencer screamed out from the other room, the first sound that actually made it through her tape, causing the Mary she knew to stir from whatever medically induced sleep she had been in. She looked around the room confused, and saw Spencer looking out the window across from her. _"Spencer!_ " She muffled out, leaning to see what the girl was looking at.

She saw herself, holding a knife to Alison's throat. And her eyes widened in terror realizing that whatever she had been drugged with must've been incredibly strong. They heard Alison whimper, not wanting to lose her life, the life of her children. "Please, don't do this Aunt Mary."

Mary smiled, lowering the blade. "All three of your lives are in my hands." She said sweetly, moving her hand over Alison's baby bump, her voice suddenly turning cold, "Remember that next time." With that, she walked out the door, leaving Alison more frightened than she had ever been in her life.

Spencer took a sigh of relief, now noticing her mother was awake and watching the scene frightfully next to her. _"Mom, is it really you?"_ She muffled out, not knowing what to believe at this point. Which one was the real Mary, the one tied up next to her, or the one in there with Alison?

Mary didn't have to muffle however, she had managed to work the tape off her mouth just as easily as Alison had. "Spencer where are we? What's going on? Is that who I think it is?" She had so many questions she didn't know which one to ask first. They both looked up as the wall to their room opened, a hidden door having been there all along.

"Well look who's finally awake!" The woman who looked identical to Mary said with a fake cheerful attitude. "You always were the late sleeper, Mary."

"Jessica, you're supposed to be dead!" Mary yelled out in frustration, seeing that the woman she had constantly been in fear of was now standing in front of her. Spencer would've backed her mother up, but the tape had found it's way back over her mouth.

"I guess lesbians and tape really don't mix." Jessica, no longer having to pretend to be Mary, muttered under her breath, moving forward and ripping the tape off Spencer's mouth. "At least your sexuality is one thing you didn't get from this bitch." She told her niece with a sneer, looking back to the two women sitting in front of her.

Spencer looked between her mother and her aunt, confused for a moment, before realizing that she should probably have a come back. "Homophobic, and insane, wow Aunt Jessica, you really are something else."

Jessica smirked, appreciating her niece's humor. "It's not that I'm homophobic." She began, locking eyes with her sister. "I just don't understand, why Veronica Hastings, out of all women?"

"You leave her out of this!" Mary snapped at Jessica, finding the courage to speak even though she was terrified. If Veronica got hurt she would never forgive herself. "She hasn't done anything wrong!"

"Her first mistake was getting involved with you." Jessica sneered. "Anyone who falls in love with Mary Drake ends up paying for it in the end."

Mary realized now, "That's why you're doing this?" She shook her head at her sister, she couldn't believe this was happening. "You think Veronica means anything to me? She's just the woman making my life a living hell!" It hurt Mary to say those words.

Jessica laughed, "Veronica payed me a visit earlier." She bent down to get on Mary's level. "She's like a love sick puppy."

Spencer was slowly beginning to understand, "She doesn't mean anything to either of us, she's jealous of us." She watched nervously as Jessica turned to her, having forgotten that she was even sitting there.

"No, she means _everything_ to Mary, don't you understand?" Jessica realized from the look on Mary's face that Spencer was blissfully unaware. "She didn't tell you."

"Tell me what?" Spencer asked finally, her nerves off the wall upon being in this life or death situation, taunted by yet another one of her family members. "Mom?" She asked, turning to Mary.

Jessica looked to Mary, seeing as the woman's face drained of all color. "Do you want to tell her, Mary, or should I?"

"Jessica, please, we don't have to get into this now…" Mary began, but she stopped dead in her tracks as her sister put the blade to her throat.

"Mom!" Spencer yelled out, not wanting to witness her mother's death. "Whatever it is, just tell me!"

Jessica snickered, pressing the blade in a little farther. "I know you have problems talking about your feelings but I think you better start talking."

Spencer hated Jessica for doing this to her mother, seeing her in so much physical and emotional pain. "Jessica, why is this necessary!"

Mary shook her head, her eyes shut tight, breath caught in her throat. "Spencer, she wants me to admit that I –" She stopped, unable to speak any further.

"Say it" Jessica snapped, pushing the blade into her throat. She was enjoying this way too much. Spencer yelled out again, wishing this would just be over with.

"Why? Why does this matter to you so much?" Mary asked desperately, she didn't want to say this, she couldn't.

" _Five… four… three.._ " Jessica began counting down, and Spencer began to panic.

"Mom just say it! Whatever it is, just say it!" Spencer begged, not willing to let her mother die because of this.

" _Two…_ "

"I don't care! Whatever it is, it's not worth all of this!" Spencer was screaming on the top of her lungs now, tears slipping down her face.

" _One…_ " Jessica finished at last.

Mary realized she had to just say it, even though she had never admitted it to herself she had to admit it to them now. "I'm in love with Veronica, is that what you wanted to hear?" She yelled out finally, her body shaking from how close she had come to death.

Jessica laughed, dropping the knife from her sister's throat. "Was that so hard?"

"Go to hell." Mary said, swallowing the lump in her throat and feeling tears fall down her face. She looked from her sister, to Spencer, who was sitting shell shocked.

"I don't understand? Why does that matter?" Spencer didn't understand the significance of that reveal, "So she loves Veronica, what difference does it make?"

"Not only does she love her." Jessica said with a smirk, "But they have a past! A past that they both lied to you about!" Jessica was eating up all the dirty little secrets she was able to expose, the family drama she was able to unleash.

Spencer looked shocked, tears forming in her eyes as she looked to Mary. It finally made sense, those awkward conversations she walked in on, the cryptic explanation of what was going on between them.

Jessica looked and saw this was working perfectly. "Isn't it just magnificently devastating! Finding out the people you love the most are lying to you?"

Spencer shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. "You two knew each other?" She looked to Mary, feeling a little blindsided, but she knew this was what Jessica wanted. "Mom, why didn't you tell me?"

"It would've made things so complicated, for all three of us." Mary tried to explain desperately, realizing that Jessica had accomplished exactly what she wanted. "This is exactly what she wants Spencer, don't let this get between us."

Spencer nodded, "You're right, we have more pressing matters, like the fact Jessica's been torturing us." She turned to Jessica again, shooting her a look.

"Really?" Jessica asked, expecting Spencer to take the news a little harder. "I just told you you've been lied to again, and you're still on the whole torture thing?"

Spencer scoffed, "You burned my house down, and you killed somebody in the process!" She still had never found out who that person was, but hoped they were living happily in the afterlife somewhere. "That kind of trumps omitting the truth about a past relationship."

"Poor Jenna Marshall, for a blind girl you'd think her sense of smell would be a bit better." Jessica sneered, she still felt a little bad that the girl had gotten mixed up in the fire, "My original target was Veronica, but I'm glad she didn't die, because then I would have no leverage over either of you."

Mary looked at her sister, her rage overcoming her fear. "I swear to god, if you touch her..."

Jessica snickered, looking to her worried sister. "You really missed out, she's a great kisser." She watched as Mary's face turned white, and Spencer fought against her restraints. "And she really loves you."

"You son of a bitch, I'll kill you!" Spencer shouted, seeing that Mary was frozen in fear and shock, unwilling to speak anymore.

Jessica smiled, moving forward with a needle in hand. "Don't worry, I'll make her death quick and painless, just for you."

And that was the last thing Mary heard before she felt a sharp pain in her neck, realizing she was being drugged again. Spencer watched as her mother faded off into a drug induced sleep once more. "You son of a bitch. You really just outed her, and for what reason?"

"You should be _thanking_ me for finally giving you the answers you deserve." Jessica said, realizing that her niece was an ungrateful little bitch who didn't deserve her help. "You'll have plenty of time to talk it over with her, make sure to ask her about Marion Cavanaugh, that's a great story." She spun around, sticking a plunger in Spencer's neck, causing the girl to scream out, before fading into darkness once more.

* * *

Mona looked up from her laptop after another twenty minutes of trying her best to track Alison's cellphone. She didn't want to get the women's hopes up, but she was pretty sure she had figured it out. "I think I got a location." She said simply, and Emily shot up from her seat on the couch and came running.

"Where is she?" Emily asked, looking at the screen and trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

Mona's brow furrowed in confusion, and it was Aria who questioned this. "Mona, what is it?" Hanna was now standing on the other side of her, she didn't know much about how this whole thing had started, as no one was willing to tell her, but she was still concerned about Alison.

"It says her phone is, here." Mona said, reading off the location from her laptop.

Emily sighed in frustration. "Did we seriously just go through all of this, and not check to see if her phone was left behind?"

Aria was upset that this was all suddenly being blamed on them, "Don't look at me, I'm not the one who lives here!"

"And I just got here from my vacation, so you can't blame me for this!" Hanna added onto this, Mona sat back and watched as they tore each other apart, her job wasn't to babysit, it was just to find Alison.

"Well then who's fault is it, because somehow, Alison is missing, and Spencer isn't responding!" Emily yelled out again, if there was ever a time she actually needed Spencer and her uber smarts, it was right about now.

"I'm sorry I got here as soon as you called." Jessica had just walked into the house, still pretending to be Mary. She surveyed the fight that was currently ensuing between the girls. She laughed at this silently, realizing how much chaos she had created.

"Yeah well it wasn't fast enough!" Emily yelled at 'Mary', knowing that snapping wouldn't help, but still doing it anyway. "It's been an hour, and you didn't even bring Spencer!" She had hoped that Spencer wasn't far behind, but now seeing Mary's confusion, she realized they had bigger problems.

"Spencer wasn't with me." Jessica stated with confusion, looking around at the worried faces of the girls. "After what Jason said, I thought she was angry with me, truthfully I've been crying by myself for the past hour." She looked at how desperate Emily was, tears forming in her eyes when she heard this.

"Oh my god, I can't believe this is happening." She sank down to the couch, Aria wrapping her tiny arms around the swimmer.

"What are we going to do?" Jessica asked, moving forward to see what Mona was looking for on her laptop. She noticed that she was tracking Alison's phone, which was currently in her pocket. She tried to remain calm, "What are you trying to do?"

"We tried to track her phone, but it says it's already here, so she must've left it behind." Mona said, looking back on the laptop. "We could try tracking Spencer's phone, but she could've just as easily left hers behind."

All of a sudden, Emily's phone buzzed. Her face turned pale, looking down at the text message she had just received. "No, no, this isn't happening, I'm not doing this."

Jessica looked up, the plan was working, the text had sent. Hanna walked over to look at the screen, she read it aloud.

 _"Choose one, or they both die, time is ticking_

 _-A.D."_

Attached were two pictures of Alison and Spencer tied to a chair, mouths taped. Emily and Aria both started crying, looking at the two that meant everything to them.

Emily shook her head, "I can't believe we have to do this, I can't believe I'm going to have to choose between them." She looked at Aria and Hanna, and they both knew what she meant. They had to choose Alison, because she was three lives, and Spencer was one.

"We have to choose Alison." Aria was the one to voice this choice finally. She looked between her friends and 'Mary', seeing the older woman flinch at the thought.

Mona was confused, "Why? Why do we have to choose Alison?" She hated that the friends had given up on Spencer already, and personally, she had always preferred Spencer over Alison.

Emily let out a sob, "Mona, she's pregnant, pregnant with my two children." She looked between the others, Aria who had just found this out yesterday, Hanna, who hadn't, and Mary who couldn't even look at them any longer.

"We have to, Alison counts for three lives, Spencer counts for one." Hanna said finally, "That's like choosing one pancake over a stack of three pancakes, it's wrong."

The girls all looked at her for a moment, no one saying anything at her pancake analogy.

"What? We're choosing Alison." Hanna said, defending her choice once again.

Jessica didn't know what to say, she managed to produce a couple of tears, remembering that these two were her niece and her daughter. She looked up from the ground now. "We can't just give up, we have to figure out a way to get them both back safely."

Emily stood up and moved next to the older woman, taking her hand and looking her in her tearful eyes. "Mary, this isn't easy for any of us, but she's pregnant. We can't risk her dying, we can't bend A.D.'s rules or we could lose them both."

"So that's it? We're just sending Spencer off to the slaughterhouse, just like that?" Jessica could feel her blood boiling as she really got into this. "Don't you always figure something out? Some way to save them both?" she shouted now.

Mona sighed, "She's right, I don't support this. It's not fair to either of them." She wished there was something she could do to save them both, but she hadn't yet figured it out.

Emily's phone chimed again, and she looked down, reading the text:

 _"Made a decision? Time's a wastin._

 _-A.D."_

Emily passed the phone over to Mona, she couldn't bear being the one to send her friend to her death, couldn't be the one to type the word. "You do it, just type that you want Alison to live."

Mona shook her head, not accepting the phone. "I'm not doing it, I won't be responsible for this murder." She still stood by 'Mary' one hundred percent.

Jessica sighed, looking as the other two shook their heads as well, "If this is what we're really doing.." She began, her voice cracking as tears continued to spill out. She sighed, her voice shaking. "I'll do it."

The girls all turned to look at her, admiring the older woman's courage as she stepped forward and took the phone from Emily. They watched as she shakily typed out their request, tears slipping down her face as she did. When it was done, she threw the phone across the room, and crumpled to the floor.

Emily went running over, she felt horrible for putting 'Mary' through what was nothing less than the worst torture imaginable. "I'm so sorry, Mary I'm so sorry." She cried out, wrapping her arms around the woman.

Jessica was floored by this, not having felt this loved and appreciated by someone in a long time. In a weird way, she liked feeling Emily hug her. She didn't say a word, continuing to sob. She wrapped her arms around Emily, allowing the girl to cry to her as well. The corners of her mouth hinted at a smile.

The chimes of Emily's phone broke them all out of their daze, it was now lying on the floor where Jessica had thrown it. Mona got up, a single tear evident on her face. She read the message out loud.

 _"Great choice, come to this destination to claim your prize!_

 _-A.D."_

She looked down at the phone, running back to her laptop as she furiously typed. Emily came up from the ground, letting go of 'Mary' as she looked at the phone.

Before she could ask, Mona explained, "It's coordinates, coordinates to a location, presumably where we need to go get Alison." She tried to distract herself with this and not think about the fact that their words had just killed someone close to them.

She stopped, causing all of the girls to inch in closer. As they surveyed the screen, they still couldn't figure out what they were supposed to be looking at.

Mona explained again, "It's an address." She pulled up x-search and typed in the number. "It's the address to the Radley."

Jessica shivered at the mention of Radley just for effect, causing Hanna to put a hand on her shoulder. Aria eyed her from the right, still not trusting her.

"So we're going to pick them up at the Radley?" Emily asked, just to be sure she had heard the information correctly. Where the hell would A.D. have kept them in the Radley?

"We're not going to pick them up, we're going to pick Alison up." Jessica reminded the group, her act as grieving aunt and mother still in full swing. Frankly, she didn't give a damn about Spencer, she was just glad the group was smart and chose Alison.

"Right." Emily said, feeling the tears she had choked back resurface. She rested her head on Mary's shoulder as the older woman wrapped her arm around her.

They all looked up as Emily's phone chimed again, Mona read it out loud.

 _"Meet me on the roof of the Radley, it's the final showdown._

 _Game over bitches,_

 _-A.D."_

The others looked at each other, they realized this was it, A.D. wanted to reveal themselves, wanted to end the game. They would give Alison back, and then go on whatever rant and then try and kill them.

"We need to get ready." Mona said, knowing from past experiences that when you're about to face a super villain, you needed to suit up.

"We?" Aria asked, moving forward from the group. "You are not going anywhere, this isn't your fight to fight, it's ours."

Jessica stepped forward, finding this completely uncalled for. "She helped us get this far, without her what would we be?" Mona smirked, she was beginning to like this 'Mary' woman after all.

The group went silent, nobody saying a word as 'Mary' finally spoke the truth that they all had been too afraid to admit, they needed Mona.

"Fine, Mona you can come with us." Emily spoke finally, giving in to both Mona and Mary's wishes. Mona giggled like a small child, she had been waiting to be accepted into the group for years now.

"I know where we can get everything we need to face this monster." Mona said finally, getting down to business after her gleeful moment of acceptance was over.

"We don't have time to waste." Jessica said, trying to bite back her smile. "Lead the way."

* * *

Veronica moved out from behind the Carissimi Group office, she knew that something was off with Mary, and it all started after she and Spencer snuck off here without telling her. Whatever it was, Veronica intended on figuring it out, she wanted her family back.

She grew worried though, thinking of Spencer she realized she hadn't seen the girl at all since she left with Mary. In fact, she hadn't even heard Mary mention her. If the older woman had gone rouge, possibly been working for the other side, who knows what happened with Spencer?

Suddenly, the door to the office building open and out walked the woman she had talked to over the phone. Of course, she could've walked in instead of waiting and stalking her, but she was no fool, and knew that wouldn't get her any answers. So, as the woman walked around the corner, she reached out, pulling her into the brush that she had been hiding in.

The woman screamed out, trying to fight her way out of Veronica's strong grip. But it was no use, she weighed next to nothing and Veronica pinned her up against the side of the building, "What happened to them?" She asked sternly, looking the terrified woman in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have any idea as to who you mean." Came the woman's sickeningly sweet southern accent that made Veronica's skin crawl.

The accent only caused her to become more enraged, "Cut the sweet southern bell crap, I know you met with them, and now they're acting strangely, so you tell me what happened in your meeting and I'll spare your life" She threatened.

"Maybe if you gave me names I could help you…" The woman said, her voice shaking as Veronica's frustration grew.

"Spencer Hastings, and Mary Drake." Veronica said through gritted teeth. "Now tell me what you know." She was about ready to strangle this woman if she didn't come up with answers.

"Oh them? They're such a nice pair, mother and daughter actually. They just wanted to find a file on the Carissimi Group beneficiary and so I gave it to them and sent them on their way." It wasn't a complete lie, but close enough to one that the woman still felt a little guilty.

Veronica wasn't having it, she pulled out her pocket knife. "I'm a lawyer, I can tell when people are lying, and you are." She pressed it into the woman's neck just enough to scare her. "Now tell me the truth."

The woman could now see Veronica wasn't messing around, "Why do you care, what are they to you?" Fear flashed in her eyes as she hoped distracting Veronica could buy her some time.

"They're my family." Veronica said, tightening her grip on the woman. "And I love them." If it were different circumstances she would've let her mind wander, but she knew that was what the woman wanted. "Now, time to talk."

The southern woman realized she couldn't do anything but tell the truth. "I was blackmailed, I did what I had to do in order to protect my family, just like you're doing this now to protect them." She tried to use Veronica's family oriented nature against her.

Veronica could see she was telling the truth just from her change in voice, lawyer habits you know. "Who blackmailed you?"

"A man." She replied instantly, knowing that she wouldn't be happy with this but knew she didn't have any further information.

"A name, he must've given you a name." Veronica insisted, she planned on finding out who this was and giving him hell.

The woman looked hesitant, debating in her head as to whether she should divulge this information or keep it to herself. Either way she was probably going to be killed, might as well help the good side, she thought to herself.

"The man's name, what is it?" Veronica asked again, she wasn't about to let this woman go without a name.

"He didn't give me a name, I'm sorry." The woman sounded genuine, wishing she had gotten more information to give Veronica. "But I do know that whatever they were looking for in that file, it had something to do with whoever it was."

Veronica's eyes widened, taking her hands off the woman, and removing the knife from her throat. "That's it!" She shouted, "That file, it must be in all those papers I took from her cabin!" She broke off into a sprint, leaving behind no explanation to the woman who she had just held at knife point.

But it was this woman who got the last laugh, for she had gotten off very easy with the questioning. She smirked as she pulled of the latex mask that hid her real identity, smirking as she realized that it was a lot of fun to play the game again. Veronica was so easy, another piece in the game to manipulate as she wished, but yet a little more challenging than most. She watched as the woman scrambled into her car, frantically searching for the file she needed, and the information that would end it all, or so she thought.

When Veronica did find the file, she looked down at it, eyes filled with shock and horror as she read the name plainly listed on the dotted line. She had to do a double take, not believing her eyes at first before realizing that this was the person behind it all.

She pulled out her phone, but paused as she wasn't sure who she could trust to call. She decided on Alison finally, but knew the girl would never believe her. Still, she dialed the number anyway, and hoped the girl would answer…

* * *

"We're going to need to be armed, we don't know if whoever this is wants to kill us." Mona explained, leading them down to her weapons cellar.

Jessica rolled her eyes, "I think they want to kill us, considering they made us choose between Spencer and Alison." Sometimes these girls were too stupid for their own good.

Mona typed a code into the keypad, opening a huge metal door. "Okay, fair point, all the more reason to arm yourself."

Hanna looked around the room, how had Mona kept this from them? She had an armory as big as one she had seen in the military movies. "Mona, don't take this the wrong way, but how the hell did you get all of this stuff?"

Mona laughed, "Han, this 'stuff' is highly classified and dangerous. Now take one." She handed Hanna a gun.

Emily stepped forward, "Woah, woah, I think we need to slow down." She took the gun cautiously out of Hanna's hand and handed it back to Mona. "Let's not hand untrained young adults guns."

Jessica stepped forward, taking the gun out of Mona's hand. "Why don't I hold that, and you, can take a pocket knife." She handed a knife to Hanna, and took the gun for herself as she had been through proper training with it, and would need it to overthrow them later.

"Mary, you know how to handle a gun?" Aria asked, looking the woman up and down. She still didn't trust her, but gave her credit for finding time to learn how to properly protect herself.

"Suddenly, I like you a lot more." Mona said with a smirk, handing her a gun holster to attach to her belt.

As Jessica was holstering her gun, one of their phones started to ring. The girls looked down, realizing none of their phones were ringing. Jessica froze, realizing it was Alison's phone ringing from her pocket.

She looked to them apologetically, "It's mine, I should take this." She moved back to the corridor of Mona's weaponry room, answering Alison's phone.

Veronica's voice came through the phone, she sounded flustered, her voice shaking. "Alison, you need to meet me back at the house right now, I know who's behind all of this…"

"Veronica, Veronica calm down." Jessica put on her best calm voice, remembering how much Mary cared for the woman.

"Mary?" Veronica's heart sank down into her stomach as she heard the woman's voice. She didn't know what to say as she still wasn't sure if she could be trusted. "I'm so sorry about earlier, I'm so sorry I hurt you I never meant to hurt you I feel terrible."

Jessica did her best to sound remorseful, knowing now that Mary cared for the woman very deeply. "It was my fault, honestly I got so overwhelmed with everything going on that I lost my head." She added in a sniffle, "I'm so sorry for hurting you baby, I never should've denied you."

Veronica's breath hitched, "Where are you now? Why are you on Alison's phone?" She couldn't let her emotions cloud her judgement, she still had one thing in mind and that was telling Alison the truth behind this.

"Alison went missing this morning and I have her phone because we were looking for any information we can use." Jessica explained calmly, hoping that Veronica wouldn't mention Spencer as she really didn't want to go into that.

"What about Spencer? Wasn't she with you this morning?"

Jessica sighed. "I didn't want to tell you this because I didn't want to worry you, but she's missing Veronica, and I'm doing everything in my power to get her back." She hoped that the lie would work and ease Veronica's stress.

But the woman was more worried than ever as she realized everything was wrong and no one had bothered to tell her. The A.D. situation had started again and no one bothered to tell her. "Please, Mary, bring our daughter home." She said pleading with the woman even though she was still unsure.

"I'll bring her home to us, I promise." She almost laughed to herself.

Veronica sighed from the other end of the line, "Please, stay safe will you? God forbid I lost both of you I don't know what I would do."

She almost chuckled again at the irony in this, but kept it to herself as she heard footsteps coming from the corridor, "Listen, Veronica if I don't make it out of this alive."

"Don't say that, Mary, don't say that because I'm not about to lose you to this." Veronica said, she was sure she could hear the woman crying on the other end. "Mary, I –"

" _I love you_ " she interrupted, her comment caught Veronica off guard because the woman had been trying so hard to say those words on three separate occasions now, and Mary just did it without hesitance. She was about to respond as she heard the line disconnect, and realized that the whole conversation had been one big act.

She was a lawyer after all, she knew lies when she heard them.

Emily came walking down the corridor, eyeing Mary suspiciously. "Who were you just saying I love you to?" She looked and saw Alison's phone in Mary's hand. "And why do you have Alison's phone?"

"Emily, I can explain. I just, I didn't want anyone else to know." Jessica began to lay on the charm, she knew it would be hard to convince Emily. "I can't let this be exposed, not now, it's just not the time."

Emily shifted her weight from one leg to the other, "Fine, I'm listening." She became suspicious and Mary was really testing her patience.

Jessica closed her eyes, looking away from Emily and tucking Alison's phone back in her pocket. "Veronica and I, we're… I guess we, it's new." She hoped Emily would believe this.

Emily smirked looking at Mary with raised eyebrows, "Good for you, finally getting the lady."

Jessica looked at Emily with her own smile, she didn't think Mary's crush was common knowledge. "Finally? You knew?"

"I might've had an idea." Emily said, looking at an obviously happy Mary. "But why did you have Alison's phone?"

Jessica nodded, knowing that Emily wasn't born yesterday. "She left it at the Lost Woods yesterday and I stopped by to drop it off this morning but then Jason interrupted so I never got around to it. Then when I found out she was missing and you were tracing her phone I got nervous and hid it for fear you would think I was responsible." She was never more proud of a lie in her life.

Emily nodded, finding that the woman's story made perfect sense. She still felt bad for Mary because of everything she had been put through today. "Your secret about Veronica is safe with me."

"C'mon ladies! We don't have all day to meet up with this psychopath." Mona's voice came echoing through the corridor, the others walking behind her. "You can have your lesbian gossip session later."

Jessica was stunned as she realized that everyone knew about Mary's crush but her, and wondered how everyone had kept it to themselves for too long. Aria and Hanna stared at her with raised eyebrows as they walked on and she felt her blood boiling, "What, never seen a lesbian before? I know, what an interesting new sight, not like you've dealt with any other gay women before–"

Emily put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from continuing, "It's alright, I know it's been a long day but you really should just ignore them and focus."

She nodded, once again Emily was right. "I'm sorry, I just get so defensive."

Once they began walking, Jessica lagged to the back of the group as the four girls walked in front of her. She wondered to herself how the events of the night would go down, hoping they wouldn't be too upset she would turn on them, then again, what did she care? She looked up as she noticed Mona walking next to her.

"Hey Mary." Mona said cautiously, breaking the woman out of her daze. "How are you holding up?"

Jessica looked up, not used to people asking about her. The girls were really starting to grow on her, "As good as one can be when her daughter is possibly dead, her niece is kidnapped, and she's marching into her death."

Mona smirked, "Yeah, I figured as much." She looked over at the older woman, some part of her idolized the woman, or just respected someone on the same intellectual playing field as she was. "I always wondered where Spencer got her smarts from, and it obviously wasn't Peter."

Jessica chuckled, "I appreciate that, it's nice to meet you finally." She looked at Mona, who didn't seem at all nervous about marching into her death.

"So, when did you learn to shoot a gun?" Mona asked, she figured she might as well learn some things about 'Mary' in case they didn't get out of this alive.

Jessica thought about this for a minute, "When I got out of Radley, I fled to London and learned how to use a gun properly so I could defend myself." She smiled at Mona, thinking about what Mary would say next. "If only Jessica could see me now, defending myself and the people I love."

Mona smiled back at her, "I'm sure she's rolling over in her grave somewhere."

And just like that, Jessica was completely over Mona and her ingenious ways. "I'm sure she is."

The group stopped walking suddenly, and the two had gotten so lost in their conversation that they didn't realize how far they had really gone. "Guys, we're here." Emily declared.

Jessica looked up, hoping that everything had gone according to plan and that they were on the rooftop as planned. She looked over to Mona, who's hand hovered over her gun holster. She leaned into whisper to her, "Mary, if this goes south it'll be up to us."

Jessica nodded, trying to keep the smile off her face. "I've got your back if you've got mine." She could laugh at how easy this was.

They began their ascent to the roof, looking around the gloomy staircase. Hanna couldn't help but shiver, "How did I not know this was here?"

"No offense, but you're not always completely aware of your surroundings." Aria said, seeing that Hanna looked slightly offended, but Mona snickered from in front of her.

Emily scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Not that I'm not loving the witty banter, but let's keep in mind we don't know what we're walking into."

"Yeah? Well you're not the one leading the way." Jessica quipped back, her inner bitchiness always came out in high stress situations.

"I'm also not the one with the gun, even though I also went through gun training." Emily snapped back, she knew that they both were overreacting due to the stress.

"Both of you! Shut up!" Aria yelled, causing them all to stop in their tracks. "You're both bitching about wanting to get Alison back, and yet all you've done is stall the process!"

Jessica rolled her eyes as she continued walking, "I'm shooting you first." She muttered under her breath.

"What did you say?" The tiny girl snapped, turning around to face her. She was enraged, having never liked 'Mary' in the first place.

Jessica turned around, ready to face Aria, and Mona saw this heading south quickly. "Remember who the real enemy is." She reminded the two, they wouldn't even have a chance to be killed by A.D. if they killed each other first.

"How do we know the real enemy isn't her?" Aria yelled finally, she had noticed how different 'Mary' had been acting lately. "How do we know she isn't leading us right into a trap and she's the one holding a gun!"

Jessica couldn't believe that after all this time, it was the little one that had figured her out. "Couldn't we discuss your distrust to me after we get Alison back?" She was in awe at how much she sounded like her older sister.

"No, I think we should do this now!" Aria argued back, she would've moved to attack the woman if they weren't in the cramped space of the staircase.

Hanna rolled her eyes, "Now you're being ridiculous!" Aria had been the pot calling the kettle black. "If AD is up there, they can hear us coming a mile away!"

Jessica wanted to give the blonde a round of applause for finally speaking some common sense. The small girl could've actually gotten them all figured out if they weren't already figured out. Luckily for them, AD already knew they were coming.

"Keep walking." Mona said with anger, nudging Aria up the stairs. She turned back once more, giving 'Mary' a scowl, and the woman shot her a sickeningly sweet smile.

Things were still going exactly as planned, not even Aria could ruin that. All of a sudden, the women's heads turned as they heard a scream resounding from the top of the stairs. Emily recognized it immediately as the sound of Alison's scream, she broke into a sprint, nearly pushing Mona and 'Mary' down the stairs.

"Alison!" The swimmer yelled as soon as she had made it to the roof. She looked around frantically for a moment, her eyes scanning the empty roof until she found her girlfriend bound and gagged, lying in the corner against one of the smoke stacks. She ran to the woman, holding her in her arms finally. "I've got you, I've got you."

The other three came running up the stairs shortly after, forgetting how fast Emily really was. Alison looked up at the group, her eyes widening when she laid eyes on 'Mary' with them. She screamed out through her gag, which Emily hadn't taken out of her mouth yet.

"Alison! Thank god you're okay!" Jessica said, running forward to the girl and trying to keep up the ruse for as long as possible. Alison reacted violently, inching further away from her and into Emily's arms.

Emily took the gag out of her mouth, and the woman screamed. "She's working for AD! She's the one that kidnapped me!" She had been dying to get the words out.

The whole group turned to 'Mary', who realized there was no point trying to keep up the ruse anymore. She turned to Mona, pinning her arm behind her back and taking the gun from her holster. "You made this too easy, first arming me, now giving me the perfect opportunity to hold you all here?"

"I gave you my trust!" Mona yelled, trying to squirm out of Mary's grasp. She wouldn't go down without a fight, that wasn't her way.

Aria could feel her blood boiling as she helped Emily untie Alison, they weren't able to do much else as 'Mary' had two guns, one pointed at Mona, one at them. "You all did, and guess who didn't? Me!"

"Now is not the time to gloat, Aria!" Emily and Alison both shouted at the same time, looking between each other and then back to the small girl.

Jessica couldn't help but laugh, "Aren't you idiots at all curious as to who's actually behind this? Or should I just shoot you now and put you out of your misery?"

Mona tried to jerk out of 'Mary's' arms again, she was determined to kill this woman one way or another.

"If you don't stop fighting, this isn't going to end well for you." Jessica snapped, breathing down Mona's neck. But the young girl was still trying her hardest.

"I'm never going to stop fighting you." Mona said through gritted teeth and wondering to herself how Mary was so strong.

Jessica tsked, "And I thought you were the smart one." She turned around to face the staircase, deciding that she would finally let Mona go, as she wanted.

"Mary, no!" Hanna screamed out, but it was too late. She had already pushed Mona down the huge flight of stairs, her body rolling lifelessly to the bottom.

She turned back around with a smirk, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess that takes care of that problem." Now she had a free hand to hold another gun, two guns on four girls and two unborn twins.

Hanna was sobbing in Aria's arms, not even aware of anything else that was going on around her. Mona, the girl she cared about more than she liked to admit, was dead at the bottom of a stair case.

"I left you for less than a day, and you already managed to kill two people."

The girls all turned around, hearing the voice of someone familiar behind them. They didn't want to believe what they heard, but couldn't deny what they saw.

Alison let out a sob, trying to wipe the tears out of her eyes to make sure she was seeing clearly. "Tell me this isn't what it looks like!" She screamed, feeling a pit form at the bottom of her stomach.

"I'm sorry, dear sister, but it is." Jason replied with a wide smile, watching in amusement as Alison recoiled in terror, tears slipping down her face.

Emily held onto her girlfriend, holding a hand over her stomach. This couldn't be happening, she should've seen this coming sooner, she should've known. Jason was the one all along, from the beginning he had played them all, and so had Mary. She couldn't help but wonder how Alison was feeling, how she was even still standing in place.

"You son of a bitch!" Emily yelled, anger at Alison's supposed family taking over her fear. "I could kill both of you for doing this!"

Jessica walked over to Jason, handing him one of the two guns so that they could properly surround the girls.

"Why?" Aria yelled out, questioning their motive. Alison was too shocked to speak, her mouth hanging open, hands turning white as they clutched onto Emily's. Emily too enraged to fathom any possible reason this could be happening, why Alison's family would turn on her in this way.

Jason pointed the gun to Aria now, "Because you deserve it, all of you deserve it." He sneered, turning to Jessica and then back to Alison who was still dumbstruck on the ground. "The time for revenge is finally ours."

"Revenge for what?" Emily screamed, still not understanding what the point of this was. "What did we do to you, either of you?"

Jessica sneered, "When Jason first approached me and asked me to join the game, I couldn't refuse. I wasn't sure if I could get you all to trust me, but he assured me you were all very naive." She turned to Alison who was shooting daggers at her now. "And he was right, you and Spencer were both too easy."

Alison sniffled, finally speaking now. "Spencer, where is she?"

Jessica turned to Jason, knowing that they had agreed to keeping Spencer alive. But was curious to see what body he had come up with. He moved over and dragged a body out from behind a chimney, placing it down in front of them. "Here's your beloved Spencer, what's left of her now anyways."

The girls all looked on in horror at the terribly burned body of Spencer, the only thing recognizable was her face, barely at that. Alison buried her head in Emily's shoulder again, feeling like she was going to throw up.

"You monsters! I'll kill you, I'll kill you, I swear to god when I get my hands on you–" Aria screamed as she saw the body of her best friend lying there. She had always been closer to Spencer than she was the others, and seeing her like this was, it was heartbreaking.

Jason whipped around, firing a shot that just barely missed Aria's shoulder. "That was a warning shut, now keep quiet you little shit."

Hanna spoke finally, not afraid to die now that Mona was already gone. "Mary, you helped him kill your own daughter, how could you?" She knew they were evil but didn't realize until now how extreme they were willing to go.

Jessica shrugged her shoulders, "All collateral damage in the end. I knew none of you would ever truly accept me." She still had her gun pointed firmly at Emily, knowing that girl was the most able of all of them.

"So what now?" The aforementioned girl spoke up, holding a shaking Alison in her arms. "What's the plan now that you've exposed yourself to us?" She still didn't think this was all, there had to be more, they didn't even have a real reason to be doing this.

It was Jason who pointed his gun towards Alison now, "We kill you all, starting with her."

This set off multiple red flags with Jessica, she stepped forward now, knowing that this wasn't the agreement. She began to panic slightly. "No, we spare Alison, that was the agreement."

Jason laughed, it had been so easy to convince his mother to go along with the plan. "That was what you agreed to, but I never planned on that."

"No, you promised me Jason. You promised me we wouldn't hurt her or the twins. You promised me." She could feel tears slipping down her face. She had been a shit mother in the past, that much was evident, but she was so proud of Alison for how far she had come, and she wanted her alive.

"I don't keep my promises, and she goes first." He turned to face her, aiming the gun as Emily stepped in front of her. She was going to go down before she let the love of her life and her children go down.

She put her hands up, "Kill me, but don't hurt her." The swimmer had never been one to give up, but now, now she knew she could only do some bargaining to save their lives. "Please, don't hurt her and the twins, they're my babies."

Jessica couldn't let this happen, he had promised her, and now he had broken that. "If you want that family you're going to have to get through me first." She stepped in front of Emily, who was still in front of Alison.

All the girls turned to her now, confused at what was happening and how quickly she had turned on Jason and came back to their rescue. Why had she made the promise to protect Emily and Alison, but not her own daughter? It didn't make sense to them, but none of them could really process this information in the moment.

"The last Drake, the last bullet." He said with a slight chuckle. "I planned to kill you later on but now is just as easy."

Jessica scoffed, her gun pointed at Jason and his gun pointed at them, "I will go down with them, but you know just as well as I do that I'm not a Drake, I am–"

The shot fired, cutting her sentence off abruptly.

She fell to the ground, the bullet had lodged itself between her eyes, the excess blood splatter covering both Emily, and Alison who was now just crumpling to the ground after her aunt. She hovered over the woman's body, knowing that there was no saving her, no last words, no chance for amends.

She was gone on impact.

"Aunt Mary no, no, no." She hit the woman's body over and over again, finally taking out her grief on the dead woman. She had been a fake, a villain, an evil co conspirator, but she had done her best to save them in the end, and died because of it.

She looked up from the body, face and hands covered with blood completely as she locked eyes with her brother, rage filling her lungs. "You did this!" She lunged forward, grabbing the man by the throat and managing to knock the gun out of his hand. She picked it up, Emily having obtained Jessica's gun from her cold hands.

Alison pointed the gun at her brother, Emily holding the other now as she came to stand next to her girlfriend.

Hanna moved forward from behind them, bending down to survey 'Mary's' body, seeing that she was very dead.

"You killed Spencer, you killed Mary, you tortured us, impregnated me with Emily's eggs." Alison began, tears of rage falling down her face, hot and heavy as she blocked everything else around her out and focused on her brother and only her brother now. "You had me on the ground begging for my life two seconds ago now tell me why I should spare you."

Jason put his hands in the air, "Alison, I'm your brother." He said with his sad yet strained voice, knowing he could play on her vulnerability for family. "We're family, you couldn't hurt me."

Alison shook her head, pressing the gun into his chest. "My family was Spencer, and you killed her in cold blood. Mary, as evil as she might've been you shot her too. Emily, you planned to kill her too." She spat in his face. "You are the furthest thing from family, and for that you deserve exactly what's coming to you."

She pulled the trigger without batting an eyelash, feeling her rage totally consume her as she watched her brother's body convulse upon the bullet entering into his chest. He staggered backwards, falling over the guardrail on the roof, and into the brush ten stories below.

Alison let out a final sob, dropping the gun in defeat somewhere in between Spencer's body and 'Mary's' body, she couldn't bring herself to open her eyes, but also didn't want to remain on the roof any longer. She heard sirens fill the area around her as she began her slow descent downward, leaving the other three on the roof behind her.

* * *

 _Present Time…_

Hanna shuffled over to the nearest officer she could find, and that was Tanner to her dismay. "My friend, Mona Vanderwaal, she was pushed down the stairs by Mary Drake, did you find her?"

Emily and Alison came limping up behind her, "And Jason, the one who was torturing us, he was shot and he fell off the roof, did you find him?" Emily was the one who spoke for both of them, hoping that they had both been accounted for.

Tanner couldn't help but feel sorry for the girls. She knew Spencer meant a lot to them, and her having died so violently couldn't have been easy on any of them. And poor Alison, finding that her aunt and brother were both evil and trying to torture her, that couldn't have been easy either.

"We found Jason in the bushes, dead. We found Mary and Spencer both on the roof, dead." Tanner said, she couldn't bring herself to look the grieving girls straight in the eyes, not wanting to slip into tears herself.

Hanna cut through all of their thoughts, "Mona Vanderwaal, did you find her at the bottom of the stairs?"

"Yeah, and who called authorities?" Emily asked as she continued to rub Alison's back to calm her down. She could feel the girl shake in her arms and knew they had to get home soon as they were both feeling extremely exhausted.

Tanner finally looked up at the three, "Nobody was at the bottom of the stairs when we arrived." She could see the look of confusion grow on Hanna's face.

"No, we watched her fall limp to the bottom." She turned to Alison and Emily, "We all watched Mary push her."

Alison spoke finally, voice hoarse with grief. "Tanner, who called you?" She really couldn't give two shits about Mona and where she had disappeared to, not when she had a million other things crossing her mind.

"They didn't leave a name, just asked to be left anonymous." Tanner said, "You owe them a hell of a lot, though." She turns and walked away, leaving the women to their thoughts.

They all waited in anticipation, this seemed like a perfect moment for their phone to all ring in unison, for the game to start again. They braced themselves, knowing it was coming, but after a minute or two they realized it wasn't. Maybe it was actually over, Jason had said his main goal was to eliminate the Drake family, and now they were all dead, and so was he, and it was all over.

Now they had one thing left to do, grieve for the people that left them behind. That was easier said than done, though.

* * *

Spencer's eyes shot open, at first all she could see was a bright white light. I'm in heaven, but heaven doesn't exist. But maybe it did, maybe all of the Christian beliefs had been right all along. After all they did all say that the first thing you saw was a great white light. Holy shit they were right. But then her eyes finally adjusted and she sat up, the feeling shooting back to her sore muscles finally. In that moment when all the pain came back to her, she wished she really was in the afterlife.

When she looked around her, she saw with relief that she was laying on the bed in her barn. She sighed, this whole thing had been one big nightmare, she had dreamt that they were kidnapped, that Jessica had come back, that Alison had been in danger. She flopped back down onto the bed and closed her eyes tightly, allowing herself to slip back into a deep sleep, but she stopped and shot back up again.

Her barn had burned down, it didn't exist anymore. That much she knew she hadn't dreamt which meant that there was no way she was sleeping in her barn.

"Mary? Alison?" She called out, feeling her sore neck where Jessica had stuck the needle into it. She realized that she hadn't been dreaming, it had been real, but then where was she?

Upon hearing no response, she called out again a little desperately this time. She knew that if she wasn't dreaming Mary and Alison had to be here somewhere. "Mom?" She called out again, finally making her way to the door that didn't seem now like her door at all. Her hand hovered over the door handle and she was about to open it when she heard an ear piercing scream from somewhere.

It sounded just like that of her mother, one that she was only familiar with when she had heard her awaken from her nightmares countless times before. "Mom I'm coming! Stay where you are!" She called out again, hoping that she could be heard as she threw open the door and faced an all too familiar hallway.

It had lights trailing down a path, a path that led to an uncertain fate, but the other direction led to another door. Her jaw dropped as she realized this had to be what she thought it was, but it couldn't be, how could it? It had been demolished years ago, there was no way it was still standing.

But somehow, some way, Spencer found herself standing in the hallway of The Dollhouse.


End file.
